William Ruto: From Chicken Seller to Kenya’s Fifth President

William Ruto won the just concluded presidential election against Raila Odinga of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance.

Odinga was vying for the presidency for the fifth time.

Ruto was born in Sugio, Uasin Gishu County in 1966 to Daniel and Sarah Cheruiyot. He married Rachel Chebet in 1991.

Education

Ruto first studied at Kerotet Primary School, then Wareng Secondary School and Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County, where he obtained his primary, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level education, respectively.

He then enrolled at the University of Nairobi, to study Botany and Zoology, eventually graduating in 1990 with a bachelor of science in both fields. The following year after his graduation, he enrolled for a Ph.D. at the University of Nairobi. He completed and graduated on December 21, 2018 with a Ph.D.

Ruto authored several papers including a paper titled Plant Species Diversity and Composition of Two Wetland in the Nairobi National Park, Kenya.

During his time in the university, Ruto was an active member of the Christian Union. He also served as the Chairman of the University of Nairobi’s choir.

It is through the church activities that he met the late President Daniel Moi, who would later introduce him to politics during the 1992 general elections.

Political Career

Dr Ruto has served as Kenya’s Deputy President since 2013, under President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In October 2014, He served as acting President in Mr Kenyatta’s absence while he attended to his criminal case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands. Charges against Mr Kenyatta were later dismissed.

He was one of the six people identified in 2011 as having planned and financed the post-election violence in 2007 and 2008 that resulted in 1,200 deaths and numerous displacements due to a contested presidential election.

Dr Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang were accused of committing crimes against humanity (death, forced population transfer or deportation, and persecution) during the unrest that followed the 2007 elections.

On September 10, 2013, Dr Ruto and Mr Sang’s trials officially began.

In 2016, Dr Ruto’s ICC case also ended in failure. The court at the time decided there wasn’t enough evidence because key witnesses had withdrawn from the case.

He was a founding member and important figure in the notorious Youth for Kanu 1992 (YK92), a lobbying organization that supported the late President Daniel Moi in the general elections of 1992.

He was elected to serve in parliament in 1997 as MP for Eldoret North. From 1998 to 2002, Dr Ruto worked as an assistant minister in the President’s Office before being promoted to cabinet and appointed Minister for Home Affairs as a result of Mr Moi’s dismissal of George Saitoti due to differences over the 2002 succession.

Dr Ruto has also held the positions of minister of higher education and agriculture.

In 2005 and 2010, Dr Ruto was against the referendum on the new Constitution.

He set his sights on the 2022 presidential election, which he successfully on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket.

The former chicken seller will take his oath of office on September 13 at the Kasarani Stadium, alongside his deputy and former Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.