Some say that former Vice Chief of Defence Forces Lieutenant General ( Rtd) John Koech, who died in 2020, was a good soldier but a bad politician.
Lt General ( Rtd) Koech had served in the military for some 39 years before bowing out in 2005, feeling satisfied of the successful career he had as a soldier.
The highlight of the former general’s career in the military was when he was appointed by the then President Mwai Kibaki as the Vice Chief of General Staff in 2003. Lt General Koech deputized General ( Rtd) Joseph Kibwana for two years before retiring in 2005.
The former Vice KDF chief had previously served as the Commandant, National Defence College. Before that, he was the Kenya Army Commander.
After retiring from the military, Lt General Koech ventured into business where he made a fortune as a successful businessman.
But in the run up to the 2007 general election, the former general plunged into the murky world of politics. His first stab at elective politics was baptism by fire.
He unsuccessfully for the Ainamoi MP seat on a United Democratic Movement ( UDM) party but lost to ODM’s David Kimutai Too during the 2007 general election.
In the subsequent by-election following Too’s death in the highway gun drama in 2008, he once again lost to the former MP’s brother, Benjamin Lang’at.
From there, he appeared to have lost interest in elective politics. But he remained an influential figure in South Rift politics.
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lt General ( Rtd) Koech suddenly died of an unspecified illness. The then Deputy President William Ruto was one of those who mourned the former Kenya Army Commander.