Bonchari MP John Oroo Oyioka passed away on Monday evening, February 15, after a long illness.
The family confirmed that Oyioka died at the Aga Khan hospital, Kisumu County, where he had been admitted for some time.
The Gusii legislator was elected to parliament in 2013 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the High Court considered a petition he had filed against then winner Zebedeo Opore. The judges nullified Opore's victory under election malpractice laws.
Oyioka, however, served for a period of six months after which the Court of Appeal overturned the decision made by the High Court. In the subsequent by-election, Oyioka lost to Opore.
However, in 2017, Oyioka made a comeback and defeated Opore to claim the Bonchari seat.
Oyioka becomes the fifth politician to pass away in the last three months after MPs James Lusweti (Kabuchai), Justus Murunga (Matungu), and Senators Boniface Kabaka (Machakos) and Yusuf Haji (Garissa).
Amani National Congress' (ANC) Murunga collapsed at his home and was declared dead at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital in Mumias, Kakamega County on Saturday night, November 14, 2020. The 60-year-old first-time lawmaker had been admitted for one week and was receiving treatment for diabetes and Covid-19.
Lusweti died at a hospital in Nairobi on Friday afternoon, December 4, 2020, after a long illness. The second-term Ford-Kenya party MP had been suffering from arthritis and gout since 1998.
Machakos Senator Kabaka passed away on Friday, December 11, 2020, at the Nairobi Hospital where he had been receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Kabaka was rushed to hospital on Friday, December 4, after he collapsed at an apartment in Nairobi's Kilimani area.
Seven days later, on Friday, December 18, the country mourned Nyamira Governor, John Obiero Nyagarama, who passed on at the Nairobi Hospital intensive care unit (ICU).
Haji, Garissa Senator died on Monday morning, February 15 at the age of 80 years. The former Defence Minister fell ill in September 2020 and was admitted to the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi.
The country also lost former Cabinet Minister, Simeon Nyachae, who passed away on February 1, 2021.
