Jean-Marie Seroney (25 July 1927 – 6 December 1982) was one of Kenya ’s most ardent human rights defenders, an outstanding legislator and prisoner of conscience. He served as the Member of Parliament for Nandi and later Tinderet from 1961 to his detention without trial in 1975. Early life Jean-Marie Seroney was born on Monday, July 25, 1927 at Kapsabet, Nandi District of Kenya. He was born Eric Kipketer Seroney, the first child to the recently converted Africa Inland Mission (AIM) teacher/evangelist Reuben Seroney and Leah Jeptarus Tapmaina who had also joined the mission at Kapsabet. Shortly after his birth, the Rev. Stuart M. Bryson was posted to Kapsabet AIM Mission to take over. Bryson immediately sent Reuben Seroney and his family to start an out-school at Surungai some 32 miles north of the mission. Two years later, Leah was expecting a baby but developed complications of labour and died leaving the young widower and two year old Eric. He got remarried again two years later to Rebecca Jeptanui and young Eric had a new mother. Education The young Seroney began formal schooling in 1935 at Kapsowar with his father and Mrs. Reynolds as his instructors. Following his father’s return to Kapsabet in May 1938, he joined the Government African School at Kapsabet (now Kapsabet High School) from 1938-1940. Seroney passed his Primary School Examination and was the only one in his class to be admitted to the prestigious Alliance High School which was then Kenya’s only secondary school. Seroney stayed at Alliance from 1941-1944 where he studied under the famous Edward Carey Francis. He enrolled at the MakerereCollege in Kampala, Uganda in 1945 taking the Higher studies in Arts. And then to study at the prestigious Allahabad University in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Religion Reuben Seroney had a misunderstanding with Stuart M. Bryson (one of the first AIM missionaries to the Nandi People who helped translate the Bible into the Nandi language with Rev. Samuel Kipnyigei), and Mr. R. V. Reynolds over Nandi cultural practices that the AIM church strongly opposed and also the failure of the church to give him pastoral authority. He left the AIM Church joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Church (the forerunner of the Anglican Church of Kenya) with his family. The young Eric Seroney also fell out with his own father in the matter of religion while attending Makerere University College in 1946 where he became a Catholic. It was here that he changed his name to John Marie Therese out of his devotion to St. Marie Therese of Liseux. Employment and entry into politics On his return to Kenya in 1956, Seroney joined the Registrar-General’s office as a Legal Assistant and begun to work there on the 21st June 1956. On the 25th of September 1958 he applied to be admitted as a member of the Law Society of Kenya which had just been formed in 1948. Seroney had made history as the second black Kenyan African to qualify in Law after the late Chiedo More Gem Argwings-Kodhek. When he was accepted to the Bar of Kenya he immediately resigned and went into private practice. It was not until 1959 that Seroney ventured into politics proper when he calls for the formation of a political party that took the interests of the Africans at heart. In February 1961, at the age of 33 he was elected to the Legislative Council as Member for Nandi becoming one if its youngest members. In 1963 he was elected Member of Parliament for Nandi North Constituency on a KADU ticket. He however crossed the floor and joined KANU. This rubbed many the wrong way especially his friend Daniel arap Moi who had remained in KADU. Detention In the same year on October 9th, 1975, he got in trouble again when as Deputy Speaker of Parliament, he refused to ask Martin Shikuku MP for Butere to substantiate his remark that ‘Kanu was dead’. He replied to Kihika Kimani who had sought a substantiation of the remarks of Shikuku that “why substantiate the obvious…”. This remark. led to his detention on October 15, 1975 at his office in Parliament at 7:15 pm. The law then stated that a sitting MP to lose by being absent for 9 months. He lost his seat subsequently. Seroney was released from detention through a Presidential pardon with 25 others (including Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Koigi wa Wamwere, George Anyona, Martin Shikuku, Wasonga Sijeyo, and others) on 12th December 1978 having spent 1,155 days (3 years 2 months) in detention without trial becoming one of Kenya’s longest prisoners of conscience. Death On the afternoon of Tuesday, November 30, 1982 he was admitted at MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi complaining of chest pains. He was taken to ICU on Saturday where was put under further treatment when he got worse. On Monday 6th December at 6:45 am Hon. Jean- Marie Seroney died. His personal doctor Dr. (Mrs.) Nalini P. Mandevia said that he died of “hepatitis failure, jaundice and anemia”Questions arose immediately about his death and many people could not believe the cause of death as stated. Curiously, no post-mortem was don
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