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William Samoei Ruto Profile
William Samoei Ruto’s full name (William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto) is a Kenyan politician who served as the deputy president. On 9th August 2022, he became the 5th president-elect in Kenya.
William Samoei Ruto Age
William Samoei Ruto is 57 years old as of 2023. He was born on 21st December 1966 in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya ( East Africa). He celebrates his birthday on 21st December every year.
William Samoei Ruto Height
He stands at the height of 5 feet 7 inches tall.
William Samoei Ruto Education
Ruto first studied at Kerotet Primary School, then Wareng Secondary School, and Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County, where he obtained his primary, Ordinary Level, and Advanced Level education, respectively. He then enrolled at the University of Nairobi, to study Botany and Zoology, eventually graduating in 1990 with a bachelor of science in both fields.
The following year after his graduation, he enrolled for a Ph.D. at the University of Nairobi, after several setbacks, he completed and graduated on 21 December 2018 with a Ph.D. from the university. Ruto authored several papers including a paper titled Plant Species Diversity and Composition of Two Wetlands in the Nairobi National Park, Kenya.
During his time on campus for his undergraduate education, Ruto was an active member of the Christian Union. He also served as the Chairman of the University of Nairobi’s choir. Through his church activities at the University of Nairobi, he met President Daniel Arap Moi, who would later introduce him to politics during the 1992 general elections.
William Samoei Ruto Family
His father Mzee Daniel Cheruiyot and his mother Mama Sarah Cheruiyot. He was brought up in a family of 5 sons and 1 daughter. His father was a peasant farmer turned industrialist toward the end of his life in 2008. His parents struggled to educate him knowing it was the only inheritance they could afford.
Theirs was a middle-to-low-income family in which clothes and shoes strained the budget a great deal. As a result, walking barefoot to school was the only option for him, his brothers, and his sister. His father was a staunch Christian who instilled morality in his children and community. His mother is jovial and she is still energetic but she is rarely on camera.
William Samoei Ruto Wife
Ruto is married to Rachel Chebet. Ruto and Chebet were married in 1991. The young couple first lived in Dagoretti where they had their first child, Nick Ruto. 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. Rachel went to Likuyani Primary School, Kakamega County. She then proceeded to Butere Girls High School for her O and A levels. From Butere.
She got a chance to join Kenyatta University for a Bachelor of Education Degree. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in 2011 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Although she studied Education, she didn’t get a chance to practice teaching for long. She voluntarily retired and ventured into the tour business, taking people throughout the country to places like Maasai Mara and Mombasa.
William Samoei Ruto Children
- Nick Ruto who is the firstborn child, is a graduate of the Kanya School of Law and is now an advocate of the high court.
- June Ruto is the second-born child, she is a former student at the University of Queensland, Australia. Now she is happily married to a Nigerian tycoon Alexander Ezenagu.
- Charleen Ruto graduated from Daystar University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in communication.
4. Stephanie Jepchumba completed her Law Degree studies at Strathmore University in 2019.
- George Ruto is largely conversational with the potential of succeeding in his father’s politics.
Nadia Cherono is the adopted daughter of William Roto and Rachel. Her story is touching considering she was buried alive and rescued by a good samaritan
William Samoei Ruto (Affair) Prisca Chemutai
According to Bett, she was a student at Moi University in 2005 when she was introduced to the then Eldoret North MP by a mutual friend. She adds that Ruto made several attempts to pursue a romantic relationship with her, and due “to her gullibility as a young and naïve student, she acquiesced to the advances”. Shortly after she agreed to the romantic affair, Ms. Bett conceived, and on 6th March 2006, she gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Cheropruto – inspired by the father’s name.
The plaintiff has told the court that while Ruto had promised to take care of their child, he stopped supporting the two shortly after becoming the Deputy President. The plaintiff has told the court that while Ruto had promised to take care of their child, he stopped supporting the two shortly after becoming the Deputy President. Ms. Bett claimed that after threatening to move to court, she received Sh35,000 through M-Pesa but the payments stopped – forcing her to move to court.
The woman now wants the court to compel the Deputy President to provide support for her child including a monthly allowance of Sh30,000 for food, Sh80,000 for housing, and 35,000 for toiletries, among others. She has also asked for security and a decent car to transport her child to and from school. The Deputy President has since dismissed the allegations, adding that his 11-year-old child is fully provided for.
William Samoei Ruto Career
Hon. Ruto is a Kenyan politician who is the 11th Deputy President of Kenya as well as the president-elect of Kenya. He previously served in several cabinet positions such as the Minister for Home Affairs from August to December 2002. Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture from 2008 to 2010, and the Minister of Higher Education from April to October 2010.
Ruto was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Eldoret North from 1997 to 2013 under the Kenya African National Union (KANU). He served as Minister for Home Affairs under the Daniel Arap Moi administration from August to December 2002. Under the Mwai Kibaki administration, he was Minister of Agriculture from 2008 to 2010 and Minister for Higher Education from April to October 2010. After graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1990.
Additionally, Ruto was employed as a teacher in the North Rift region of Kenya from 1990 to 1992. Moreover, he was the leader of the local African Inland Church (AIC) Choir. Ruto ran for the deputy presidency in the 2013 election under the United Republican Party, becoming the running mate of Uhuru Kenyatta from The National Alliance (TNA). Their ticket won with half of the votes. He would later win the deputy presidency again under the Jubilee Party alongside his running mate. Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2017 Kenyan general election. He ran for the presidency in the 2022 election, under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), winning half of the votes.
William Samoei Ruto Presidential candidate
On December 2020 Ruto announced his alliance with the newly formed United Democratic Alliance party. He was the only presidential candidate to attend the second part of the 2022 presidential debate. He chose Rigathi Gachagua as his deputy president.
William Samoei Ruto Political Career
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 which he learned the basics of Kenyan politics. Additionally, he is 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.
William Samoei Ruto (MP) Member of Pariament
Ruto ran for a parliamentary seat in the 1997 general election. He surprisingly beat the incumbent, Reuben Chesire, Moi’s preferred candidate. Moreover, as well as the Uasin Gishu KANU branch chairman and assistant minister. After this, he would later gain favor 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, 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 2005, Kenya held a constitutional referendum which KANU opposed. Some members of the ruling NARC coalition government.
Mainly former KANU ministers who had joined the opposition coalition in 2002 under the LDP banner. Those who were disgruntled as President Kibaki had not honored a pre-election MoU on power-sharing. The creation of a Prime Minister post, joined KANU to oppose the proposed constitution. Since the symbol of the “No” vote was an Orange. This new grouping named their movement the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Ruto was part of its top brass, dubbed the Pentagon. He solidified his voter base in the Rift Valley Province. ODM was victorious in the referendum.
William Samoei Ruto vies for the presidency
In January 2006, Ruto declared publicly that he would vie for the presidency in the next general election (2007). 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.
William Samoei Ruto Deputy President
In the August 2017 General Elections, Uhuru and Ruto were declared victors after garnering 54% of the total votes cast. However, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the election, and a fresh election was held in October 2017. The opposition boycotted the fresh election and Uhuru and Ruto were re-elected with 98% of the total votes cast. The Supreme Court upheld the results of this second election. On 6 October 2014, Ruto was appointed acting president of Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta following his summons to appear before the ICC.
William Samoei Ruto Corruption allegations
In 2004, Ruto was charged with defrauding another state corporation Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) of huge amounts of money through dubious land deals. 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.
In December 2010, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he was seeking the summons of six people. Including Ruto, over their involvement in the 2007–8 electoral violence. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber subsequently issued a summons for Ruto at the prosecutor’s request. Ruto was accused of planning and organizing crimes against supporters of President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity.
He was charged with three counts of crimes against humanity, one for murder. One for the forcible transfer of population, and one for persecution. On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the charges against Ruto and Joshua Sang, in a case that also involved Uhuru Kenyatta. Francis Muthaura, Henry Kosgey, and Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali. Ruto told the US government that the Kiambaa church fire on 1 January 2008 after the 2007 general election was merely accidental.
The Waki Commission report stated in 2009 that “the incident which captured the attention of both Kenyans. The world was a deliberate burning of live people, mostly Kikuyu women. Children huddled together in a church” in Kiambaa on 1 January 2008. In April 2016, the prosecution of Ruto was abandoned by the International Criminal Court.
William Samoei Ruto Home attack
On 28 July 2017, Ruto’s home was targeted by at least one attacker armed with a machete. The police officer on duty guarding the residence was injured. During the time of the attack, he and his family were not at the compound as he had left hours earlier for a campaign rally in Kitale.
There were reports of gunfire and several security sources said the attack was staged by multiple people. Police initially thought there were a few attackers because the attackers used different firearms. Around 48 hours later, Kenya Police Chief Joseph Boinnet announced that the attacker was shot dead and the situation was under control.
William Samoei Ruto Jacob Juma assassination allegations
Ruto has been widely and repeatedly linked to the assassination of Jacob Juma by several media, activists, and politicians. Opposition figures in Kenya, including Jacob Juma himself. Jacob Juma was a wealthy businessman who became a fierce government critic and anti-corruption crusader. He became known for posting targeted cryptic tweets against Ruto.
The Jubilee government months before he was assassinated in Nairobi. In December 2015, Jacob Juma, in his tweets, claimed Ruto was obsessed with killing him. In May 2016, Jacob Juma was shot dead along Ngong Road. Furthermore, the same month, during the burial of Jacob Juma, a former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo.Previously a close ally of Ruto claimed Jacob Juma had physically assaulted Ruto by slapping him. For having a sour relationship over unspecified reasons. Jirongo urged police to investigate the assassination based on the assault.
Later in the month, Ruto threatened to sue Jirongo for linking him to the assassination. Jirongo claimed that he and another former minister, Chris Okemo. Were personally involved in paying the murdered government critic’s university tuition fees. He knew the matter surrounding the controversy all too well. According to Jirongo, the same assassins were involved in the murder of Meshack Yebei. Another murdered prospective defense witness in the ICC trial against Ruto.
William Samoei Ruto Net Worth
Ruto has an estimated annual Net Worth of $ 8 million to $1 billion earned from his career as a Politician.
William Samoei Ruto Social Media Platforms
Ruto is very active on his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages. He has 5.8m followers on Twitter, 183k followers on Instagram, and 2.1m followers on Facebook.
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