Born in the city of Meru, Kenya, Kiogora initially began his career as a long-distance track specialist and had his first success at the 1996 African Championships in Athletics, where he won the gold medal over 10,000 metres. He then became a half marathon runner and won the Kiev Half Marathon and the Kenyan Armed Forces Half Marathon in 2000. He was the runner-up at the 1999 Paris Half Marathon in a time of 1:01:37 hours, finishing a fraction of a second behind the winner Phaustin Baha Sulle. He returned to the same race the following year and set his career best time of 1:01:09 hours, coming third on that occasion.