NAIROBI – The much-awaited Presidential election results have finally been announced in favour of UDA’s William Ruto.
Ruto was neck to neck with Raila Odinga – who was contesting for the fifth time.
The 56-year-old Ruto was on the evening of Monday declared by the chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has declared William Ruto as the President-elect, Wafula Chebukati.
According to IEBC, Ruto beat his rival William Raila Odinga after getting 50.49%.
Who is William Samoei Arap Ruto?
Born 21 December 1966, Ruto is a Kenyan politician who has been serving as the Deputy President of Kenya since 2013.
Ruto was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1998 to 2013. He served as Minister for Home Affairs in the Daniel Arap Moi administration from August to December 2002.
He later served in the Mwai Kibaki administration as Minister of Agriculture from 2008 to 2010 and as Minister for Higher Education from April to October 2010.
Early life and education
He was born in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County to Daniel Cheruiyot and Sarah Cheruiyot. He attended Kerotet Primary School for his primary school education. He was enrolled in Wareng Secondary School for his Ordinary Levels education before proceeding to Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County for his Advanced Levels. Ruto then went on to receive a BSc in Botany and Zoology from the University of Nairobi, graduating in 1990.
Ruto later enrolled for a MSc in Plant ecology, graduating in 2011. The following year, he enrolled for a Ph.D. and after several setbacks, he completed and was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi, graduating on 21 December 2018.
He authored several papers including a paper titled Plant Species Diversity and Composition of Two Wetlands in the Nairobi National Park, Kenya. During his time in campus for the undergraduate course, 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 his church leadership activities at the University of Nairobi that Ruto met President Daniel Arap Moi who would introduce him to Kenya politics at later date, specifically during the 1992 general elections.
Ruto owns a considerable chicken farm in his home village of Sugoi, which was originally inspired by his stint as a live chicken hawker on the Nairobi-Eldoret highway.
Political career
After graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1990, Ruto was employed as a teacher in the North Rift region of Kenya from 1990 to 1992, where he was also the leader of the local African Inland Church(AIC) Choir.
He began his political career when he became the treasurer of the YK’92 campaign group that was lobbying for the re-election of President Moi in 1992, from where he learned the ropes of Kenyan politics. He is also believed to have accumulated some wealth in this period. After the 1992 elections, President Moi disbanded YK’92 and Ruto attempted to vie for various KANU (then Kenya’s ruling party) branch party positions but did not succeed.
Member of Parliament
Ruto competed for a parliamentary seat at the 1997 Kenyan general election. He surprisingly beat the incumbent, Reuben Chesire, Moi’s preferred candidate, as well as the Uasin Gishu KANU branch chairman and assistant minister. After this, he would later gain favour with Moi and be appointed KANU Director of Elections. His strong support in 2002 for Moi’s preferred successor Uhuru Kenyatta saw him get a place as assistant minister in the Home Affairs (Interior) ministry docket. Later in that election, as some government ministers resigned to join the opposition, he would be promoted to be the full Cabinet Minister in the ministry. KANU lost the election but he retained his parliamentary seat. Ruto would thereafter be elected KANU Secretary General in 2005 with Uhuru Kenyatta getting elected as Chairman.
In January 2006, Ruto declared publicly that he would vie for the presidency in the next 2007 Kenyan general election. His statement was condemned by some of his KANU colleagues, including former president Moi. By this time, ODM had morphed into a political party. Ruto sought the nomination of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as its presidential candidate, but on 1 September 2007, he placed third with 368 votes. The winner was Raila Odinga with 2,656 votes and the runner-up was Musalia Mudavadi with 391. Ruto expressed his support for Odinga after the vote. As KANU under Uhuru Kenyatta moved to support Kibaki, he resigned from his post as KANU secretary general on 6 October 2007.
Ruto was among the list of people who were indicted to stand trial at the ICC for their involvement in Kenya’s 2007/2008 political violence. However, the ICC case was faced with challenges, especially concerning the withdrawal of key prosecution witnesses. In April 2016, the Court dropped charges against Ruto.
On 21 April 2010, Ruto was transferred from the Agriculture Ministry and posted to the Higher Education Ministry, swapping posts with Sally Kosgei. On 24 August 2011, Ruto was relieved of his ministerial duties and remained a member of parliament. He joined with Uhuru Kenyatta to form the Jubilee alliance for the 2013 presidential election.
Acting President
He served as the Acting President of Kenya between 5 and 8 October 2014 while President Uhuru Kenyatta was away at The Hague.
Deputy President
On 6 October 2014, Ruto was appointed acting president of Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta following his summons to appear before the ICC.
Presidential Candidate
On December 2020 Ruto announced his alliance with the newly formed United Democratic Alliance party. He is the only 2022 presidential candidate who attended the 2022 presidential debate. Ruto lost the Presidential Election to Raila Odinga in same year.
In 2004, Ruto was arrested and put on trial charged with defrauding another state corporation Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) of huge amounts of money through dubious land deals,[36] but he has been out on bond. The Constitutional Court suspended the further hearing of the case due to complaints by Ruto that the prosecution was politically engineered. However, the High Court cleared the path for criminal charges against the Higher Education minister over the alleged sale of a piece of land in Ngong’ forest to Kenya Pipeline Company Ltd. He was acquitted in 2011 but in 2020, as his relationship with President Uhuru Kenyatta seemed to falter amid the President’s push for an anti-corruption war, the police re-opened investigations in the case.
Monday, 15 August 2022 is declared as the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya
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