William Samoei Ruto was born on December 21st, 1966, in Sambut village to mzee Daniel Cheruiyot and mama Sarah Cheruiyot. He started his political ambitions as a treasurer of YK’92. YK’92 was a campaign group supporting the late president Daniel Arap Moi’s re-election.
Mentored in politics by Former President Daniel Arap Moi, William Ruto was elected Eldoret North member of parliament from 1997 to 2013. He served as a minister for home affairs in Moi’s government. He was also the minister for agriculture from 2008 to 2010 and higher education from April to October 2010 in Kibaki’s government.
In 2013, Ruto was elected the deputy president of Kenya under the Jubilee party ticket. He then founded United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in December 2020. On August 15th, the IEBC chairman declared William Samoei Ruto, the president of Kenya. He is currently the president-elect waiting for the ruling of the Supreme Court on September 4th so that he can proceed with his duties as the Kenyan president.
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William Ruto
Here are a few things you need to know about Ruto before we get into the politics:
William Ruto’s academic background
William Ruto went to Kerotet Primary School for his primary school education. For his O’ level education, he joined Wareng Secondary School. He later attended Kapsabet Boys High School for his A’ level in Nandi county.
William Ruto got admission to the University of Nairobi for his further studies, where he was appointed the chairman of the Christian Union. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in Botany and zoology.
After his undergraduate studies, Ruto taught at Sirgoi and Kamagut. In 2011, he graduated with a Master’s in Plant Ecology. In 2012, he enrolled for a PhD at the University of Nairobi and graduated on December 21st, 2018.
Ruto’s family
He married his wife, Rachel Chebet Nafula Ruto, in 1990. On September 9th, 1991, they welcomed their first child (Nick Ruto) while staying in Dagorreti. This couple is blessed with five children; June Ruto, Stephanie Ruto, Charlene Chelagat Ruto, George Kimutai Ruto, and Nadia Ruto, their adopted daughter.
In 2009, William Ruto had another child Abby Cherop Ruto with Prisca Chemutai Bett; a claim acknowledged in 2017 when Prisca Chemutai Bett sued him for child support.
Social media channels
William Samoei Ruto is an active member of various active social media platforms. These social media platforms include; Twitter and Facebook.
He currently has 5.1 million followers. His followers increased when he was declared the President of Kenya after the August 9th general election.
William Ruto and Kenyan politics
In 1997 William Ruto was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Eldoret North, beating his opponent Ruben Chesire and the Uasin Gishu branch Chairman for KANU. His strong support for Uhuru Kenyatta as the successor of Moi earned him the assistant minister for home affairs. In 2002, He became the cabinet minister for Home Affairs. Later in 2005, Ruto was elected the Secretary General of KANU.
William Ruto declared his interest in running for a Presidential seat in 2006 on an ODM ticket. However, he lost the nominations in September 2007. Therefore, he supported Raila Odinga. However, KANU, under Uhuru Kenyatta as its chairman, supported Mwai Kibaki.
In October 2007, Ruto resigned from KANU as the secretary general. Between 2008-2013, William Ruto was reelected MP for Eldoret North. He also served as Minister for Higher Education in 2011.
In 2013, the Jubilee party won the presidential election, with Uhuru Kenyatta as the president of Kenya and William Ruto as the deputy president. However, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified re-election in 2017, and in October, Kenyans went back to vote. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were again declared the winners by 98% of the total votes. In short, they served for two terms up to August 2022.
In the 2022 general election, Ruto contested as a presidential candidate under his party (United Democratic Alliance) ticket. He was then declared the winner with 7,176,141 votes against Raila Odinga, who had 6,942,930 votes.
Conclusion
Focus and determination are lessons we can learn from William Ruto. He has risen from being a chicken hawker along Nakuru – Eldoret highway to owning Weston Hotel and many shares in AMACO insurance.
Despite being humiliated by his opponents and his boss Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto did not give up on his ambitions (Presidential bid). Dr William Ruto is a resilient leader who has risen to the presidency despite many setbacks. Now Kenyans expect the new president-elect to improve the country’s economic condition and deliver as per his campaign manifesto.
