After completing his secondary education at Kapsabet High School, he attended Tambach Teachers Training College in the Keiyo District. He worked as a teacher from 1946 until 1955. He was promoted to the rank of P2 in 1949 after attending a brief course at Kagumo teachers college and then transferred to the Government African School in Tambach.

In 1950, he attended a course at the Jeans School, Kabete which later became the Kenya Institute of Administration. His character was greatly influenced by Christianity which he had embraced at a tender age.
He taught at Tambach until he was elected to the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 1955 as African representative for Rift Valley province.