Taaitta Toweett

Dr. Taaitta Araap Toweett (May 1925 – 8 October 2007) was a Kenyan writer, linguist and politician.

Toweett was born in May 1925 at Tebesoonik, near Litein, in Kisyaara Location, Kericho District, Kenya. His father Cheelogoi Araap Maeero (who died in 1976, aged 110) was originally from Mokomoni, North Mugirango, and his mother was Tapaase Temugo (who died in 1934). He had a younger sister, Christina Turgut, and younger brother, John Toweett. Toweett was educated at Chebwagan Primary School, African Government School in Kabianga (1939–43), Alliance High School in Kikuyu (1944–47), and at Makerere University College, where he studied Sociology, English Literature and History.

He decided to become a social worker and joined Jeans School, now Kenya Institute of Administration, Kabete, where he trained for social welfare work. He was appointed Welfare Officer in Kericho in 1950. In 1953 he worked briefly as a broadcaster with Voice of Kenya (VOK), African Service, Kisumu. He was awarded scholarship by the Kipsigis County Council in 1955 to the South Devon Technical College, Torquay, to study for a diploma in public and social administration. He obtained a B.A. (1956) and B.A. (Hons) 1959 from the University of South Africa. On his return from Britain in 1957, he was appointed Community Development Officer for Nandi District, the first African CDO to be recruited locally in Kenya. During this period was the editor of the Kipsigis vernacular magazine Ngalek Ap Kipsigisiek, published quarterly.

He was one of the eight original Africans elected to the Legislative Council in 1958 as Member for the Southern Area, a constituency comprising mainly Kipsigis and Maasai Districts. He formed Kalenjin Political Alliance Party that later on got into an alliance with KADU. He served on the Dairy Board and played a crucial role in the foundation of the co-operative movement nationally. In 1960, 1962, 1963 he attended the Lancaster House Conferences held in London to draft Kenya’s Constitution, paving the way for complete self-rule.

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