William Samoei arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who has been Deputy President of Kenya since 2013. He served as the Acting President of Kenya between 5 and 8 October 2014 while President Uhuru Kenyatta was away at the Hague.He previously served in various ministerial positions including the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Higher Education. He was Secretary General of KANU, the former ruling political party, and MP for Eldoret North Constituency between December 1997 and January 2013. He won the seat in the 1997 Kenyan election after defeating Reuben Chesire. He was appointed to the position of Assistant Minister in the Office of the President by President Daniel arap Moi in 1998. He was promoted to be Minister for Home Affairs in August 2002. He also previously served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform in the 9th Parliament.
On 4 March 2013, he was elected as Deputy President alongside President Uhuru Kenyatta. They won on a Jubilee Coalition ticket.
Ruto’s case in the International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently at an advanced stage. However, it has been faced with challenges especially concerning withdrawal of key prosecution witnesses. In April 2016, the prosecution of Ruto was abandoned by the International Criminal Court.
Ruto was born 21 December 1966 in Kamagut, Uasin Gishu to Daniel Cheruiyot and Sarah Cheruiyot. He attended Kerotet Primary School for his primary school education then joined Wareng Secondary School for his Ordinary Levels education before proceeding to Kapsabet Boys, Nandi for his Advanced Levels. He then went on to receive a BSc (Botany and Zoology) from the University of Nairobi, graduating in 1990. He was also a member of Christian Union where he served as Chairman. He was ranked the best student in his class. He later enrolled for MSc in Environmental Science, graduating in 2011. He is currently pursuing a PhD from the same University.
Ruto was Organizing Secretary of Youth for KANU ’92 (YK92), a group that was formed to drum up support for President Daniel arap Moi in the 1992 election.
In January 2006, Ruto declared publicly that he would stand for the presidency in the next general election, scheduled for December 2007. His statement was condemned by some of his KANU colleagues, including former president Moi. Ruto sought the nomination of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as its presidential candidate, but in the party’s vote on 1 September 2007, he placed third with 368 votes, behind the winner, Raila Odinga (with 2,656 votes) and Musalia Mudavadi (with 391). Ruto expressed his support for Odinga after the vote. He resigned from his post as KANU secretary general on 6 October 2007.
The presidential election of December 2007 ended in an impasse. Kenya’s electoral commission declared Kibaki the winner while opinion polls had clearly placed Raila Odinga in front. Raila and ODM claimed victory. In a scene that has been replicated all over Africa, Mwai Kibaki was hurriedly sworn in as the president December 2007 presidential election. Following the election and dispute over the result Kenya was engulfed by a violent political crisis. Kibaki and Odinga agreed to form a power-sharing government.[8][9] In the grand coalition Cabinet named on 13 April 2008[9] and sworn in on 17 April,[8] Ruto was appointed as Minister for Agriculture.[9]
On 21 April 2010, Ruto was transferred from the agriculture ministry and posted to the higher education ministry, swapping posts with Sally Kosgei.[10] On 24 August 2011, William Ruto was relieved of his ministerial duties, and remaining a member of parliament. He joined hands with Uhuru Kenyatta to form the Jubilee alliance for the 2013 presidential election.
On 6 October 2014 Ruto was appointed acting president of Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta following his summons to appear before the ICC.
