Joyce Laboso was not a politician until the death of her sister, the feisty Lorna Laboso, who perished in a plane crash in 2008.

Until then a lecturer at Egerton University, she threw herself in the murky waters of politics, winning the Sotik parliamentary seat on ODM ticket.

As an MP, Dr Laboso quickly distinguished herself as a sober and assertive politician.

In 2013, she won her second term on a United Republic Party (URP) ticket and was subsequently elected Deputy Speaker. 

She, again, distinguished herself in the hot seat at a time the House was bitterly divided between Government forces and those of the Opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord).

Her position as Deputy Speaker came with a baptism of fire, as exemplified during the passage of the controversial Security laws, where she found herself in the middle of chaos pitting Government and Opposition MPs.

In the ensuing pandemonium, Laboso had her wig washed in water, as parliamentary orderlies worked hard to shield her from the commotion. 

One of her parliamentary staffers remembers her walking out of the chamber, drying her hair and generally taking the whole matter in her stride.

“She came out and dried her hair. She never took it bitterly. She saw it as part of her job,” said the former staffer.

Even at the height of the political battles between Jubilee and the Cord Coalition, Dr Laboso kept her cool and rarely would she grant controversial interviews.

Parliamentary and political reporters looking for hard-hitting political bites instinctively knew that they would not get them from Laboso.

On Mzalendo.com, a website that keeps an eye on Kenyan Parliament, she is portrayed as a development-minded leader.

“In her two terms she has prioritised development of roads, education, water and electricity within the constituency. She also had women issues close to her heart," states the site.

As first female Speaker, Laboso set the pace for other women parliamentarians struggling to find their space in a male-dominated Parliament.

In his condolence message, Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi described Laboso as an inspirational leader who led the way for other women politicians.

"Dr Laboso, who I served very closely with during my first term as Speaker of the National Assembly, has been a huge inspiration to women in leadership; a trail blazer who stood tall and soldiered on to make history as the first woman governor of Bomet County, having achieved another first when she got elected the first woman deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in the 11th Parliament," said the Speaker.

"At the National Assembly, Dr Laboso will be remembered as a humble, amiable, diligent and progressive lawmaker," he added.