After two failed attempts, it was a case of getting third time lucky for Majimbo Kalasinga in the recent Kabuchai by-election.
He fell short in 2013 and 2017 but did not give up on his ambition to represent residents in Parliament.
Born in 1972 in Sikusi village, Bungoma Central, the new lawmaker developed an interest in elective politics in 2002 when he worked as a youth winger for the late Vice President Michael Wamalwa at the Narc Secretariat at Mwenge House, Nairobi.
"It is here that Majimbo made his political connections, dining with the high and mighty during the Narc euphoria," said Julius Bakasa, a former chairman of the defunct Bungoma county council.
Bakasa said Majimbo's mastery of the Bukusu language endeared him to Wamalwa. "Majimbo is an orator and Wamalwa really liked such characters. That's why he kept him close," he said.
The food science graduate had previously worked in the dairy industry. He was employed at Scind Dairy Company in Nakuru as a clerk. He then moved to Brookside Company in Nairobi and thereafter joined Bungoma-based Kitinda Dairy Cooperative where he worked until 2001.
He later joined Nzoia Sugar Company as a supervisor, a position he held until 2013 when he opted for elective politics.
In 2013, he unsuccessfully ran for Kabuchai parliamentary seat. He lost in the New Ford Kenya nomination to the late Philip Mukui and then decamped to the Alliance Party of Kenya, then led by Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi. He ended up losing the election too to Lusweti Mukwe.
He made another stab in 2017 on the Jubilee ticket but still lost to Lusweti Mukwe of Ford Kenya. Mukwe's death in December prompted the by-election.
Despite losing to Mukwe, Majimbo worked closely with him. He soon became the darling of Mukwe's supporters. When Mukwe was hospitalised, Majimbo ran his errands.
Majimbo is an alumnus of Sikusi primary and secondary schools and Egerton University. He is married to Janet Makhapila, a high school teacher he met while at Egerton. They have five children.
Job Simiyu, his former classmate at Sikusi Secondary School, described him as an avid debater with a keen interest in chemistry.
"I remember during those days when we went for inter-school debates how everyone waited for his turn. He could quote all the West African writers," he said.
Simiyu recounted how one day he humiliated students from big schools, citing Friends School Kamusinga.