Why Joyce Laboso kept cancer diagnosis from the public – husband

The death of Bomet Governor Dr. Joyce Laboso caught the nation by surprise as little was out in the public about her medical condition.

Her long battle with cancer was officially confirmed after news broke that she had passed on at the Nairobi Hospital.

However, her husband Edwin Abonyo on Monday revealed that it was her wish that her health condition remain a private matter.

Addressing the press at the Lee Funeral Home, Mr. Abonyo said Dr. Laboso had suffered for a long time but the family opted to keep the details private.

The governor ostensibly did not want her ailment to affect her service delivery to the people of Bomet County.

“She actually suffered for a long time but we kept it under wraps. She did not want it to deter her duty and all the things that she was doing,” said Abonyo.

He added: “She was very strong and we can only reciprocate that by also being strong for her.”

News that Dr. Laboso had been hospitalised came to the limelight after Opposition leader Raila Odinga and Kenya’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Manoah Esipisu visited her at a hospital in London on June 5, 2019.

A photo of Dr. Laboso with Odinga and Esipisu at the London hospital offered a ray of hope and reassurance that she was pulling through.

After about two months away on a medical trip to India and the United Kingdom, Dr. Laboso silently jetted back to the country on July 14 to continue with medical treatment in the country.

She remained away from the public eye leading to speculations that were dismissed by her office.

“The office of the Governor would like to reassure  the residents of Bomet and general public that Bomet Governor Dr. Joyce Laboso  is recuperating well and still under observation,” said County Director of Communications Ezra Kirui in a statement dated July 29.

Dr. Laboso passed away aged 59.

Her life and service delivery has been widely praised with President Uhuru Kenyatta describing her as an “icon of women leadership in our country.”

Deputy President William Ruto, speaking at the Lee Funeral Home, said the country had lost “a courageous, hardworking, very progressive woman leader in Kenya.”

Also Read: From teacher to top politician: The remarkable life of Governor Joyce Laboso