William Ruto

DATE OF BIRTH	December 21, 1966
GENDER	Male
OCCUPATION	Politician, Botanist
FAMILY	Married Rachel in 1991

Biography

William Ruto was born in Sugoi, Uasin Gishu County in 1966

William Ruto attended Kamagut Primary School for his elementary education before proceeding to Wareng Secondary School, and later Kapsabet Boys High School for his secondary education.

After his primary and secondary education, Ruto headed to the University of Nairobi, where he bagged a bachelor’s degree in Botany and Zoology in 1990 before going further to bag a master’s and doctorate degree from the same university in 2011 and 2018 respectively.

During his university days, Ruto worked as a teacher in the North Rift region of Kenya, where he was also the leader of the local African Inland Church Choir.

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Political Journey

Ruto first met President Daniel Arap Moi through his church leadership work at the University of Nairobi. He was fully introduced to Kenyan politics during the 1992 general elections, where he served as the Treasurer of the YK’92, a campaign group for the reelection of President Moi.

Ruto played a vital role during this period, and he learned the nitty-gritty of Kenyan politics through the process.

In 1998, Ruto was elected into Parliament before heading to serve as the country’s Minister of Home Affairs in 2002, a position which he occupied for five months.

In January 2006, William Ruto declared his desire to run for president in the 2007 Kenyan general election. According to reports, some of his colleagues, notably former President Moi, reacted negatively to this. But when Mwai Kibaki formed the Cabinet in 2008 after winning the election amid contentious political conflicts, Ruto was named the Minister for Agriculture.

From 2008 to 2013, Ruto became Eldoret North’s Member of Parliament.

Presidency

William Ruto was picked as former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s vice president in the 2013 presidential election and held the position till 2022. Between October 5 and October 8, 2014, he presided over Kenya while President Kenyatta was away at the Hague.

After serving as the deputy president of Kenya for 10 years, Ruto decided to vie for the presidency again after falling out with the incumbent president, who weighed his support for Raila Odinga, the opposition.

The election, which was a tight race between Ruto and Odinga, ended in a victory for Ruto.

According to the IEBC result, Ruto garnered 50.49 percent of the vote, narrowly defeating Raila Odinga, a seasoned opposition leader and former prime minister, who was running in his fifth election,

Family

Ruto is married to Rachel Chebet, and the union is blessed with seven children namely: