Jean-Marie Seroney
| Jean-Marie Seroney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
25 July 1927 Kapsabet, Nandi, Kenya |
| Died | 6 December 1982 (aged 55) Parklands, Nairobi |
| Nationality | Kenyan |
| Occupation | Member of Kenyan Parliament |
| Known for | Human rights advocacy, prisoner of conscience |
Jean-Marie Seroney (25 July 1927 – 6 December 1982) was a Kenyan human rights advocate, a legislator, and an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. He served as the Member of the Legislative Council for Nandi Constituency from 1961 to 1963 and Member of Parliament for Nandi North from 1963 to 1966 before becoming the Member for the newly formed Tinderet Constituency from 1966 to 1975. He was arrested and detained without trial for three and a half years and died four years after being released. Seroney defended the independence of Parliament at a time when it was becoming an arm of the Executive. He worked hard to introduce Bills that would remove or at least check the excessive powers vested in the President as a result of the numerous amendments to the Kenya Constitution. He also brought in the first Private Member's Bill to help ensure that Kenya's elections were free, fair and inclusive. He decried what he described as the wanton abuse of power by the Executive and condemned corruption in Kenya, the unfair distribution of national wealth, theft of land from the poor by the ruling elite, failure to resettle the landless and so forth. He soon made powerful enemies, and his detention in harsh prison conditions set in motion the events that eventually led to his death.
Jean-Marie Seroney was born on Monday, 25 July 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 Seroney who had also joined the Mission at Kapsabet. Shortly after his birth, the Rev. Stuart M. Bryson took over the Kapsabet AIM Mission. Bryson turned out to be a controversial missionary challenging the deeply held traditions of the Nandi in a bid to increase his numbers. He immediately sent Reuben Seroney to start a new Mission station and school at Surungai some 32 miles north of the Kapsabet Mission. Reuben and Leah taught at the Surungai School in the afternoons and spent their mornings preaching in the nearby villages. Two years later, Leah was expecting their second child but when she was due, she unexpectedly died from complications of labour leaving Reuben and two-year-old Eric. Leah Jeptarus was born to the prominent Nandi Chief of Tibing'ot Kibirech araap Chemai and was the older sister of Rev. Ezekiel Birech the late presiding Bishop of the Africa Inland Church in Kenya.
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