William Ruto: Hustler and Son of a 'Nobody' Who Has Won the Race to be Kenya's Fifth President

Deputy President William Ruto has won the race to be the fifth president of the Republic of Kenya.

Ruto, who vied on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, was declared the duly elected fifth president by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Wafula Chebukati on Monday evening.

The 55-year-old garnered 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49 percent, edging his closest challenger Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition who managed 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).

“There are no losers. The people of Kenya have won because we raised the political bar. There is no looking back, we are looking to the future, we need all hands on deck to move forward,” the president-elect said after the announcement.

Ruto, who constantly refers to himself as a 'hustle'r and ‘son of nobody’, was born on December 21st, 1966 in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County to Daniel Cheruiyot and Sarah Cheruiyot. 

He attended Kerotet Primary School and Wareng Secondary School for his ordinary levels education before proceeding to Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County for his Advanced Levels. 

He then went on to receive a BSc in Botany and Zoology from the University of Nairobi in 1990 and later enrolled for an MSc in Plant Ecology, graduating in 2011. The following year, he enrolled for a Ph.D. at the University of Nairobi, graduating in December 2018.

During his time at the University of Nairobi for his undergraduate course, Ruto was an active member of the Christian Union and served as the Chairman of the university’s choir.

It is through his church leadership activities at UoN that he met the late former President Daniel Arap Moi who would introduce him to Kenya politics during the 1992 general election. 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.

Ruto competed for Eldoret North parliamentary seat at the 1997 Kenyan general election where he surprisingly beat incumbent Reuben Chesire, Moi's preferred candidate. President Moi was impressed by Ruto after defeating Chesire and went on to appoint him as KANU’s director of elections in 1998.

In 2002, Ruto was part of the team that campaigned for Uhuru Kenyatta who suffered defeat at the hands of NARC Coalition presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki, who was elected Kenya’s third president. Ruto was in 2005 elected as KANU’s Secretary General.

In 2006, he declared he would vie for the presidency and joined the ODM party to fight for the ticket but he finished third behind Musalia Mudavadi and Raila Odinga, who clinched the party ticket.

Vying on an ODM ticket, Ruto successfully defended his Eldoret North MP seat during the 2007 General Election that turned out to be Kenya’s most violent.

Ruto was among six suspects indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2013 for crimes against humanity in relation to the 2007/2008 post-election skirmishes. The Hague-based court would eventually terminate the charges against him in 2016.

Under the Grand Coalition government formed after the acrimonious 2007 election, Ruto became a Minister for Agriculture and was later appointed Minister for Higher Education.

At one point, President Kibaki relieved him of his duties as minister over allegations of corruption. He was accused of receiving Sh96 million from the illegal sale of land belonging to the Ministry of Environment. Ruto was also implicated in the maize scandal while serving as Minister for Agriculture in 2009.

In 2013, he teamed up with Uhuru Kenyatta as his running mate and the two won the presidential election and were re-elected in 2017. Kenyatta and Ruto fell out following the latter’s handshake with opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2018. 

In 2021, Ruto broke ties with Uhuru’s Jubilee Party and formed the UDA party, the political vehicle he has used to win the 2022 presidential election in his first attempt.