President William Ruto: Get to know more about him

President William Ruto was born on December 21, 1966, in Sambut, which is in Kenya. William Ruto is a businessman and politician who was elected and has served as the president of the Republic of Kenya since 2022. 

Ruto was born and raised in Sambut village in Uasin Gishu county. His parents were Daniel and Sarah Cheruiyot. He grew up in a religious home, and he has been a member of the African Inland Church.

He took his primary school education at Kerotet Primary School, from which he proceeded to Wareng Secondary School and later to Kapsabet High School, where he completed his high school education. 

He joined the University of Nairobi, where he graduated with a B.S. in Botany and Zoology in 1990. He furthered his learning at the University of Nairobi, and in 2011 he completed his M.S., and then in 2018 he completed his Ph.D. in plant ecology.

In 1991, Ruto married Rachael Chebet, and they have six children together.
William Ruto, when asked about his life story, he describes how he walked barefoot for many years and having to sell chicken and peanuts by the roadside to make money.

This hardship motivated Ruto to work hard, and he has managed to amass a considerable amount of wealth from his businesses and investments, which include shares in real estate and hospitality.

Ruto's political journey began during the 1992 general election when he helped to start the Youth for KANU 1992 group, which supported Daniel Arap Moi, who was the presidential candidate for Kenya African Union (KANU).

In 1997, Ruto was elected into parliament, and he was later reelected in 2002. In 2002, he momentarily served as minister of home affairs under the leadership of Moi.

Ruto became the secretary general of Kanu in 2005. He opposed the government's proposed new constitution, and a majority of voters voted against the new constitution.

He expressed his desire to run for presidency but he did not receive a positive response from his party members; hence, in October 2007, Roto resigned from his position as the secretary general of KANU.

Ruto then joined ODM and supported Raila Odinga in his bid for the presidential position in the 2007 general election; however, the official results showed that Mwai Kibaki had won by a narrow margin.

In 2013, under the Jubilee Coalition Party, Ruto teamed up with Uhuru Kenyatta, and they both competed for office with Ruto as the Deputy President and Uhuru as the President. They faced a lot of challenges, with the major one being their ICC trial; however, against all odds, they managed to win the election.

In August 2022, under the United Democratic Alliance, popularly known as UDA, which was part of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance of political parties, Ruto vied for the presidential position, and he emerged victorious with 50.49 percent of the votes, with his closest challenger being Odinga, who had 48.85 percent of the votes.
Odinga did not accept the results, hence he made a petition to the Supreme Court. However, on September 5, the Supreme Court upheld the presidential election results, and on September 13, Ruto was inagurated as president.