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william ruto
William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto CGH (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who has been serving as the fifth president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the first elected deputy president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. Previously, holders of the position were referred to as vice president, and the officeholder was unelected and appointed by the president. He previously served in three cabinet portfolios as the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister of Agriculture, and as Minister for Higher Education.
Ruto was elected Member of Parliament for Eldoret North constituency from 1997 to 2007, under the KANU and 2007 to 2013 through the ODM party. He was the Minister for Home Affairs in the Daniel arap Moi administration from August to December 2002. Under the Mwai Kibaki administration, he was the Minister for Agriculture from 2008 to 2010 and Minister for Higher Education from April to October 2010. 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). He was re-elected to the deputy presidency under the Jubilee Party in the 2017 Kenyan general election. Ruto successfully ran for the presidency in the 2022 election, this time under the United Democratic Alliance (UDA). Amidst a fallout, Kenyatta supported his opponent Raila Odinga. The election was marred by allegations of electoral fraud by allies of Odinga, although international observers have not corroborated such claims.
A member of the Kalenjin people of the Rift Valley Province, William Ruto, was born on 21 December 1966 in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County, to Daniel Cheruiyot and Sarah Cheruiyot
Ruto started his education at Kamagut Primary School, then transferred to Kerotet Primary School--both situated within the Uasin Gishu County; and he sat for his Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) at the latter. He then proceeded to Wareng Secondary School still in Uasin Gishu County and later Kapsabet High School in Nandi County, where he obtained his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level education, respectively
He then enrolled at the University of Nairobi to study Botany and Zoology, graduating in 1990 with a Bsc. He went on to complete an Msc in Plant Ecology also from the University of Nairobi. The following year after his graduation, he enrolled for a Ph.D. at the same university, and after several setbacks, he completed and graduated on 21 December 2018 with a Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi.
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.
On 13 September 2022, he was inaugurated at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, in a ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Martha Koome and attended by over 20 heads of state and government. The inauguration day was declared a public holiday. Attendance was very high, with groups of the general public clashing with security officials. When trying to enter the stadium, the event continued peacefully. Following his inauguration, he officially began his term as President of Kenya.
After taking office, Ruto announced a pledge to address climate change and end the use of fossil fuels in Kenya's electricity production by 2030.
President Ruto made his maiden foreign trip to the United Kingdom as head of state on 18 September 2022 during which he attended the late Queen Elizabeth II state funeral service on 19 September 2022 at the Westminster Abbey in London.
President Ruto made his debut address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as a head of state on 21 September 2022, days after arriving in New York from London where he had attended the state funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He nodded to President Biden's "Build Back Better" domestic plan, proposing a global effort toward "building back better from the bottom upward." The goal, he said, should be,"including the marginalized, working majority in the economic mainstream." Other themes he addressed were the expansion of the representation of Africa on the U.N. Security Council, increased investment in the African continent, "moving Africa from aid to investment", tapping "the ever-bustling" human capital for economic prosperity and a concerted effort towards tackling climate change in the world.
In September 2022, he said that the Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, adding that "3.1 million people are facing severe drought" in Kenya alone.
Asked about the ongoing Tigray War in northern Ethiopia between government forces and Tigray rebels, Ruto said that "whatever happens in Ethiopia gets to Kenya."
Speaking about the Somali Civil War, he said that "Kenyan troops will come back home as soon as we're done with the assignment that we have in Somalia."
In November 2022, Ruto's government launched the Hustler Fund, a loan program to grant immediate loans to Kenyan citizens.
President Ruto proposed a large-scale privatisation of public enterprises, noting that it's not economically viable to keep pumping government resources into sustaining those corporations.
Ruto is married to Rachel Chebet. The young couple first lived in Dagoretti, where they had their first child. They were married in 1991 at the Africa Inland Church. They currently have six children.
He is an evangelical Christian and a member of the Africa Inland Church.
He owns a considerable chicken farm in his home village of Sugoi, which was originally inspired by his stint as a chicken seller/hawker on the Nairobi-Eldoret-Malaba highway. Ruto and his wife built a chapel in their compound at their residence in the Karen suburb of Nairobi.