African news. William Ruto declared Kenya’s 5th president. William Ruto has been declared Kenya’s 5th president after serving as deputy president under former Uhuru Kenyatta’s rule.
The results were announced on the 15th August 2022 by IEBC, Kenya’s electoral body.
Who is William Ruto?
William Samoei Ruto born William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto 21 December 1966 (age 55) in Kamagut, Kenya.
He is married to Rachel Chebet from 1991 and they have 7 children.
He is a Kenyan politician serving as the Deputy President of Kenya since 2013. Ruto is the UDA presidential candidate in the 2022 presidential election.
In the 2013 presidential election, Ruto was elected the Deputy President alongside President Uhuru Kenyatta under the Jubilee Alliance ticket. 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.
Ruto 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.
Ruto had wanted to vie for president in the 2007 elections under the ODM party but missed out due to placing third under Raila Odinga with 2,656 and Musalia Mudavadi with 391 votes.
The presidential election of December 2007 ended in an impasse. Kenya’s electoral commission declared Kibaki the winner, but Raila and ODM claimed the victory.
Mwai Kibaki was hurriedly sworn in as the president of the December 2007 presidential election. Kenyan was later engulfed in a political crisis and a power sharing government was formed.
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 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.
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.
In April 2016, the Court dropped charges against Ruto.