William Ruto, Kenyan politician, Deputy President of Kenya
Dr William Samoei Arap Ruto (born on 21 December 1966), more commonly known as William Ruto, is a Kenyan politician, serving as Deputy President of Kenya since September 2013.
Ruto served as the Acting President of Kenya between 6 and 8 October 2014 when President Uhuru Kenyatta was at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague, Netherlands. He formerly served in various ministerial positions, including the Ministries of Home Affairs, Agriculture, and Higher Education Science and Technology. He was the Secretary General of the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU), the former ruling political party, and the MP for Eldoret North Constituency between December 1997 and January 2013. He won the seat in the 1997 elections 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 has also previously served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reforms in the 9th Parliament.
On 4 March 2013, Ruto became Deputy President of Kenya, when he and Uhuru Kenyatta were declared winners of the 2013 Kenyan general election. The duo ran on a Jubilee Alliance ticket. The Jubilee Alliance was a coalition of his United Republican Party (URP) and Kenyatta's The National Alliance.
Ruto was among the list of people who were indicted to stand trial at the ICC for their involvement in Kenya's 2007/2008 political violence. However, the ICC case was faced with challenges especially concerning the withdrawal of key prosecution witnesses. In April 2016, the Court dropped charges against Ruto.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.