Rachel Chebet Ruto (born 20 November 1968) is a Kenyan educator currently serving as the First Lady of Kenya. She is the wife to

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Ken ...

, the fifth and current

President of Kenya The president of the Republic of Kenya () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Kenya. The President is also the head of the executive branch of the Government of Kenya and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Def ...

. She was instrumental in assisting her husband's campaign, often seen by his side.

Early life

Rachel Chebet was born in Likuyani,

Kakamega County Kakamega County is a Counties of Kenya, county in the former Western Province, Kenya, Western Province of Kenya and borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma County, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia County, Trans Nzoia counti ...

, Western Region on 20 November 1968.

Education and career

She went to Likuyani Primary School,

. She then proceeded to

Butere Girls High School Butere Girls High School is a girls only public boarding secondary school in Butere, Kenya. History Butere Girls High School grew out of a primary school founded by the Irish missionary Jane Elizabeth Chadwick, who arrived in Butere in 1916 and ...

for her O and A levels. She got a chance to join

Kenyatta University Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi County, Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of ...

where she pursued a Bachelor of Education Degree. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in 2011 at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. Although she studied Education, she did not get a chance to practice teaching for long. She voluntarily retired and ventured into the tour business, taking people throughout the country to places like

Maasai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ance ...

and Mombasa.

Activism and recognition

During her tenure as the Second Lady of Kenya, she became an advocate for women's rights and women's empowerment. Through th
Joyful Women Organization
she spurred a table banking initiative throughout Kenya, and spread to the rest of Africa. On 17 January 2014, Rachel Ruto was awarded the International Honorary Fellowship Award On Women Empowerment at the Binary University in Malaysia. She has been championing for healthy living through physical exercise such as cycling and launched Mama Cycling initiative in September to promote the practice.

Family

Rachel and

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

were married in 1991 at the AIC church. They met while they were in university at a

Christian Union Christian Union may refer to: * Christian Union (Lithuania), a Lithuanian Christian democratic political party (''Krikščionių sąjunga'' in Lithuanian) * Christian Union (Netherlands), a Dutch Christian democratic political party (''ChristenUn ...

rally at the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

. Rachel was studying

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

while her husband was taking

botany Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "bot ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

at the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

. The couple has six children including

Charlene Ruto Charlene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Charlene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Charlene or Charleen * Charlene (singer), American singer Charlene D'Angelo (born 1950) Music ...

. The couple adopted baby Nadia, who had been buried alive. They named the baby Cherono, after Ruto’s mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruto, Rachel First Ladies of Kenya Spouses of national leaders Living people 1968 births People from Kakamega Kenyan educators Kenyatta University alumni Catholic University of Eastern Africa alumni