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John Murumba Chikati (born 15 November 1962) is a Kenyan politician and the current Member of National Assembly for Tongaren Constituency, and the immediate former Secretary for Strategy and Delivery in the Office of the Deputy President. He a member of The Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya (FORD-Kenya) a partner of the United Democratic Alliance party.

Notably, Chikati has assisted in the establishment of sixty Technical and Vocational Training Institutes (TVETs) in sixty constituencies in the Republic of Kenya in two years. He has assisted in the enrollment of students in TVETs from 80,134 in 2016 to 280,456 by 2020. He has lobbied for increased Government Capitation and General Financing of TVET institutions from the Ministry of Finance. He has lobbied for recruitment and deployment of additional six thousand staff in the TVETs, in two years.

Chikati has authored over fifty books and manuals which are widely used by development organizations, universities and other tertiary institutions across the globe. He has trained more than thirty thousand personnel from twenty-eight African countries in project management, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, as well as reporting. Chikati has made a lot of contributions in Projects management, empowerment of the marginalized, education for all, peace and conflict management, sports, culture, research journals among many other things.

Early life and education
John Chikati was educated at Tabani FYM Primary School in Bungoma, Western Kenya from 1970 to 1975 and then at Ortum Primary School in West Pokot, Rift Valley where he sat for Certificate of Primary Education in 1977. He joined Teremi Secondary School in Bungoma in 1978 and did the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination in 1981.

He proceeded to Mother of Apostles Seminary, Eldoret where he sat for Kenya Advanced Certificate of Education (KACE) in 1983. He was then recruited in the National Youth Service for Pre-University students in May 1985. In September 1985, he joined the University of Nairobi where graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History in 1989 (3:1:1).

Chikati had previously taught briefly at Chwele Girls High School, Lukhuna Sec. School, Ndivisi Sec. School and at Ravals High School, Nairobi as untrained teacher between 1984 and 1988.

In 1992 Chikati enrolled at the Cambridge College for further studies where he obtained a Masters of Arts Degree in Project Management. Chikati has a PhD Degree from the Commonwealth University in Project Management (2013).

Professional background
John Chikati worked in the Office of Vice President and Ministry of Home Affairs: National Archives from 1989 to 1990. He was then appointed as the Director of Thomas Barnados House where he served from 1991 to 1994. He proceeded to work for HelpAge International from 1994 to 1997 as the Head of Projects. Chikati then worked as a Development Consultant for United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 1998 to 2000.

In 2001, he was appointed Regional Coordinator for Regional Partnership for Resource Development where served until 2014. He was then appointed by the then president Uhuru Kenyatta as a Director at Nzoia Sugar Company where he served from 2014 to 2017.

Chikati also worked as a Development Consultant for the Catholic Diocese of Lagos and Ijebu-Ode of Nigeria, as well as the Federal Ministry of Health in Republic of Sudan in 2018.

In 2018, he was appointed the Secretary for Strategy and Delivery in Office of the then Deputy President William Samoei Ruto.

Member of Parliament
Chikati began his political career in the 2007 General elections vying for Member of Parliament on a ODM party ticket where he emerged second.

He was then vied for the Tongaren parliamentary seat again in 2013 general elections on the Amani National Congress (ANC) party ticket where he emerged second again.

Chikati joined the Jubilee Coalition in the 2017 General elections with the Deputy President William Samoei Ruto as his aide. Chikati lost to the former FORD-Kenya Secretary General Eseli Simiyu in the elections.

In 2021, John Chikati announced he would contest on a FORD-Kenya party ticket. Prior to joining FORD-Kenya, Chikati had been working closely with the Deputy President William Samoei Ruto as the Secretary for Strategy and Delivery in his office.

Chikati trounced DAP-K Secretary General Eseli Simiyu in the August 9, 2022 General Election as the Member of National Assembly for Tongaren Constituency. According to official results released by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Chikati scored 28,278 votes against his closest challenger Eseli Simiyu who polled 13,511 votes.

Election Petition
In 2013, John Chikati filed a petition on the election of Eseli Simiyu as the Member of Parliament for Tongaren Constituency. Chikati who had contested the previously held election on a United Democratic Forum (UDF) Party ticket, cited several malpractices in the exercise. Chikati said that Eseli had colluded with election officials to influence their recruitment exercise with a view of rigging the elections by allowing dead voters to vote. Chikati further said that his agents were harassed by Eseli and scared away from polling stations with some, closing as early as 2pm. Chikati had also told court that the statutory forms that were used to declare results were not signed as required by law.

Giving the ruling, Justice Francis Gikonyo said that Chikati had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt all his allegations and therefore dismissed the petition. He noted that Chikati failed to call witnesses who physically saw malpractices saying his agents failed to bring their letters of appointment as party agents in court.

Gikonyo ruled that Eseli who vied on a FORD-Kenya ticket was elected freely and fairly saying some human errors experienced could not change the final results and ordered Chikati pay the costs. The election of Eseli Simiyu as the Member of Parliament for Tongaren was upheld by the High Court in Bungoma.

Honors and awards

 * M.B.S (Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear) Medal By President

Publications
Chikati has authored numerous books which are reference materials in Universities, Colleges and other education institutions.