Editor's Review

"It is sad to learn the sudden demise of the first and longest serving Member of Parliament."

Former Yatta MP Gideon Mutiso is dead. 

Mutiso breathed his last on Wednesday, April 26 at a Nairobi Hospital aged 91.

The family has confirmed the demise  

Born on March 31, 1932, Mutiso actively participated in politics since 1955. He was elected the first MP for Yatta constituency in 1963. 

He was later jailed in 1971 after he was accused of sedition. He served 9 years and six months in Naivasha Maximum Prison. 

Former Yatta MP Gedion Mutiso. PHOTO | COURTESY

After his release, he was re-elected by the people of Yatta in 1983 as a member of Parliament where he served until 1997.

He also served as an Assistant Minister in the ministries of Home Affairs, Education, Health, Agriculture, Lands and Housing during his era as MP.

He remains the longest-serving Yatta MP.

“Mutiso wa Yatta”, as he was popularly known, is famed for his labour rights activism in the 1960s, fighting for equality and equity in the labour and employment of Africans. 

Mutiso deputized the late Tom Mboya as the Deputy Secretary General of the Kenya Federation of Laborers.

Yatta MP Robert Basil in a statement mourned the deceased describing him as a leader who did much for Citizens.

"It is sad to learn the sudden demise of the first and longest serving Member of Parliament, Yatta Constituency, Gedion Munyaao Mutiso majorly known as Mutiso wa Yatta," he wrote.

"May his family and Yatta people be condoled. May the Almighty God give you strength and comfort you during this hard time. Peace be with you. May our Good gracious God Rest His soul in eternal peace."