Isaac Kiprono Ruto (born 4 March 1959) is a Kenyan

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He is the Chama Cha Mashinani Party leader. He was elected the first governor of Bomet County in 2013 Kenyan general elections. He hails from Tumoi, Sigor in Chepalungu constituency and went to Tenwek High School where he proceeded to study

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

. He is also a former chairman of the Council of Governors in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Political career

Ruto joined active politics in the year 1997 and was elected as the Chepalungu Constituency member of parliament through

Kenya African National Union The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 19 ...

. In 1998, Ruto was appointed as assistant minister in the Ministry of Education, a position he served until 1999 when was reappointed as an assistant minister to the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2001, President Moi appointed Ruto as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. In

2002 Kenyan general election General elections were held in Kenya on 27 December 2002. Voters elected the President of Kenya, president, members of the National Assembly (Kenya), National Assembly and 2002 Kenyan local elections, local officials. Mwai Kibaki of the National ...

s Ruto was defeated by Ambassador John Koech as a member of parliament Chepalungu Constituency. In 2007 general elections, Ruto was elected for a second non-consecutive term as the representative for his Chepalungu Constituency on an

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augus ...

ticket. In 2013 general elections, Ruto was elected Bomet County governor on the URP ticket under Jubilee Coalition. In April 2013, Ruto was elected the first chairman of the Council of Governors through consensus and vowed to fight for devolution. In 2017 he became leader of the Chama Cha Mashinani political party. In the year 2017 Ruto vied through Chama Cha Mashinani and lost his gubernatorial position during elections to the late Joyce Laboso who vied through Jubilee ticket.

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Living people County governors of Kenya Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) 1967 births People from Uasin Gishu County University of Nairobi alumni {{Kenya-politician-stub