Among the youthful and energetic politicians tasked with warding off opposition to the dominant KANU party in the Rift Valley region was Isaac Kiprono Ruto, who was Minister for Vocational Training towards the end of President Daniel arap Moi’s tenure in 2002. He was 34 years old when he was appointed to the Cabinet.
Born in Uasin Gishu District, (now Uasin Gishu County), his family moved to Chepalungu in the former Bomet District in the 1980s. Ruto was elected Chepalungu Member of Parliament in 1997 to become one of Moi’s point men in South Rift Valley. Between1998 and 1999, he was the Assistant Minister for Education, and later moved to the Ministry of Agriculture in the same capacity until 2001 when he became a minister.
Ruto joined active politics in the year 1997, and was overwhelmingly elected as the Chepalungu Constituency member of parliament through Kenya African National Union.
Before the 2002 General Election, Ruto differed sharply with Moi shortly before the end of a two-day State tour of South Africa over the electability of Uhuru Kenyatta and Kipsigis community politics in general.
In April 2013, Ruto was unanimously chosen as the first chairman of the Council of Governors, pledging his support for devolution. In 2017, he was chosen to lead the Chama Cha Mashinani party. In 2017, Ruto campaigned for governor on the CCM ticket; however, the late Joyce Laboso, running on the Jubilee banner, defeated him.
Presently, he is making an attempt to return to active politics by running for governor under the banner of his party, CCM. Hillary Barchok, the UDA candidate and the current governor, is viewed by political commentators as a technocrat.In 2016, he was put in the spotlight by former President Uhuru Kenyatta for trying to block the construction of the Bomet university Campus on land that had been donated by the national government.
By Newsmedia