1985
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka begins his long foray with elective politics after winning a by-election.

That same year he is elected Secretary of the ruling party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) in Kitui District Branch.

1986
On 1st April 1986, Mr. Musyoka is appointed Assistant Minister for Works, Housing and Physical Planning, the news of which he at first received as April Fools’ Day prank. In this capacity, he worked under Mr. Kenneth Matiba and later under the late Mr. Justus ole Tipis.

1988
In 1988, Mr. Musyoka is re-elected to parliament un-opposed. While in parliament, he vies and is elected to the post of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, a position he held for five years.

In the same year, he is elected the National Organizing Secretary of KANU and a member of the party’s National Executive Council.

1992
Following his re-election to parliament during Kenya’s first Multi-Party Elections in 1992, Mr. Musyoka is appointed the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. It is this appointment that also launches Mr. Musyoka to a landmark tenure in international cooperation and negotiations. His duties see him travel widely, representing the country in major global meetings and events. He represented the President in key international forums, and has addressed the UN General Assembly seven times. It is also during this time that he initiated peace negotiations among warring parties in Burundi and within war torn countries of Sudan and Somalia.

Mr. Musyoka also serves as Minister for Education; Information and Tourism portfolios with a distinctive success.

2002
On 18th March 2002, Mr. Musyoka is elected National Vice Chairman of the Ruling Party KANU, a feat that launches him into presidential succession politics. Soon his is among names touted as possible successor of President Daniel Moi, who is retiring after ruling the country for 24 years.

The ruling party KANU names Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of Kenya’s first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as the successor to retiring President Moi. The naming of the successor is done in an undemocratic manner without consultation, resulting to fallout within the party. The fallout sees Mr. Musyoka and an array of senior party politicians leave KANU and launch a new party the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of which Mr. Musyoka is a founding father.

The opposition unites under the umbrella of a coalition between Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and National Alliance of Kenya (NAK) popularly called the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).

December 2002
Mr. Musyoka is among the prominent leaders who secure victory for NARC in the 2002 elections, handing defeat to KANU for the first time in forty years. He is a member of the NARC Summit and a signatory to the NARC Memorandum of Understanding.

Mr. Musyoka is re-elected for the fifth time running as Member of Parliament for Mwingi North Constituency. He is appointed the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in the new coalition government (NARC). While in Foreign Affairs, Mr. Musyoka chaired and spearheaded peace initiatives within the framework of IGAD Peace Processes in Sudan and Somalia.

He is the immediate former Minister of Enviromenment and Natural Resources and a senior leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, the biggest of the constituent parties that forms NARC.

2005
During the historical period when Kenya held its first ever referendum to decide on a new constitution, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka is among the powerful array of politicians in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) that leads the country in rejecting the draft constitution. The draft constitution had among other things been designed to entrench a small clique of the rich and powerful individuals in power. The referendum held on November 21 2005, marked the end of the NARC coalition government. ODM put together the most powerful political machinery ever witnessed in Kenyan history to convince Kenyan voters to vote NO during the referendum.