He was born in Sugoi, Uasin Gishu County in 1966.
Education background
Early schooling at Kamagut Primary, then joined Wareng
Secondary School, followed by Kapsabet Boys High School for his A levels. He
joined the University of Nairobi where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science
in Botany and Zoology in 1990. He returned to same university years later and
graduated with a Master of Science degree in 2011 and PhD in 2018.
Dr Ruto has served as Kenya’s deputy president since
2013 when he was elected as President Uhuru Kenyatta’s running mate. In October
2014, he served as acting President when Mr Kenyatta briefly relinquished power
to attend to his criminal case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The
Hague, Netherlands. Mr Kenyatta's charges were later dropped.
In 2011, he was named among the six individuals who
planned and sponsored the 2007/08 post-election violence in which 1,200 people
were killed and many others displaced over a disputed following a disputed
presidential election. Dr Ruto was charged alongside journalist Joshua Arap
Sang with crimes against humanity (murder, deportation or forcible transfer of
population and persecution) during violence that followed the 2007 elections.
The trial of Dr Ruto and Mr Sang opened on 10 September 2013.
Dr Ruto's case at the ICC also collapsed in 2016. At the
time, the court ruled there was insufficient evidence after crucial witnesses
withdrew.
He was a co-founder and key member of the infamous Youth
for Kanu 1992 (YK92), a lobby group that campaigned for late President Daniel
Moi in the 1992 general elections. Earlier, he had met Mr Moi, his political
mentor, through his involvement in church activities.
He was first elected to Parliament in 1997 as MP for
Eldoret North. Dr Ruto served as an assistant minister in the Office of the
President from 1998 to 2002 when he was elevated to cabinet as Minister for
Home Affairs following the sacking of George Saitoti by Mr Moi after
disagreements over the 2002 succession. Dr Ruto has also served as Minister for
Agriculture and Higher Education.
Dr Ruto opposed the referendum on the new Constitution
in 2005 and 2010.
He set his eyes on the 2022 presidential election which
he will contest on a UDA ticket under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
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