Henry Kiprono Kosgey is a Kenyan politician who was a member of parliament for Tinderet Constituency and was a Minister for Industrialization.
He was also the Chairman of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM);The longest serving Mp for Tinderet who is also a renowned large scale owner of tea farms.
Henry Kiprono Kosgey was born on 14 July 1947 to Kipkosgey arap Moita and Martha Moek.
Kosgey was first elected as MP of Tinderet Constituency in Rift Valley Province in 1979 under Daniel Arap Moi's Kenya African National Union (KANU) party.
Kosgey won the seat in a hotly contested election where he defeated veteran vocal politician, Jean-Marie Seroney.
In the 2002 elections, although Kosgey once again won his Tinderet parliamentary seat, KANU lost its majority in parliament.
Following the disputed 2007 elections, Raila's ODM and President Kibaki's Party of National Unity agreed to work together.
At the time there were numerous last minute preparations that needed to be done and Kosgey was given the responsibility of putting things in place.
However, after the games, it was discovered that millions of shillings had been lost as a result of an advertising contract that had been awarded to a company owned by an American called Dick Berg.
Nonetheless, the controversy tainted Kosgey's political career and continues to be cited by critics as examples of mistakes that he committed in the past.
1996 to 1997: Minister for Environment and Natural Resources: Kosgey was elected as a member of parliament in 1992 but spent the period 1992 to 1996 outside Cabinet in the back-bench.
At the time Kenya's Tourism sector was going through a very difficult period due to bad publicity in the international media following the 1997 elections.
Matters worsened in 1998 when Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist group bombed the American Embassy in Nairobi.
Kosgey therefore had the difficult task of restoring confidence in the tourism industry while managing and improving Kenya's image abroad.
Kosgey decided to step aside in January 2011 to face charges of abuse of office relating to the importation of vehicles older than 8 years.
On 4 January 2011, Kosgey was arrested and charged in court over allegations that he authorised the importation of 113 vehicles that were older than eight years.
His immediate predecessor, former Minister Mukhisa Kituyi, issued approximately 3,000 exemptions using the same law and in exactly the same manner as Kosgey without obtaining any advice from the NSC.
Following the 2007 Kenyan presidential election, the incumbent, President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner but this was disputed by the opposition who alleged fraud.
[2] Human Rights Watch said that on the opposition side, politicians had met with Kalenjin leaders to "organise, direct and facilitate" violent attacks against Kikuyus.
The Waki Commission recommended the establishment of a local Tribunal and, failing that, referral to the International Criminal Court.
On 15 December 2010, the Prosecutor announced that Kosgey was one of six Kenyans he had applied to the court for summons to be issued alleging crimes against humanity.
The Prosecution put forward a case alleging that Kosgey together with William Ruto and Joshua Sang were members of a network that organised violence in Kenya.
Kosgey's defence argued that the fact that the statement of witness 6 was not corroborated by any other source or any real material evidence means that it is unreliable.
On 23 January 2012, the International Criminal Court pre-trial chamber II declined to confirm any of the charges against Kosgey, citing insufficient prosecution evidence to sustain a full trial.
[6] On the general elections held on 4 March 2013, Henry Kosgey contested the Nandi County Senate seat on an ODM ticket.