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10 Things To Know About Kenya President-elect, Ruto

Published

3 years ago

August 15, 2022

The head of Kenya’s election body on Monday declared William Ruto the winner of the country’s close-fought presidential election, despite several commissioners rejecting the results.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati said Ruto had won almost 7.18 million votes (50.49 per cent) against 6.94 million (48.85 per cent) for his rival Raila Odinga in the August 9 vote.

Here are 10 things to know about Ruto:

1. Born December 21, 1966, in Sambut village, Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County in the country, Ruto had all his primary, secondary and tertiary education in Kenya. He bagged a Bachelor of Science in Botany and Zoology from the University of Nairobi, graduating in 1990. Ruto proceeded to obtain a Masters degree in Plant ecology, and graduated in 2011, topping it with a Doctorate degree from the University of Nairobi, and graduating on his birthday, December 21, 2018.

2. Ruto worked as a teacher in the North Rift region of Kenya from 1990 to 1992, where he was also the leader of the local African Inland Church Choir.

3. He began his political career as the treasurer of the YK’92 campaign group that lobbied for the re-election of President Daniel Moi in 1992. He was believed to have learnt about Kenyan politics from there and also accumulated some wealth.

4. Ruto became a Member of Parliament in 1998.

5. He was made Minister of Home Affairs in 2002 in the country and served for five months.

6. In January 2006, Ruto announced his intention to vie for the presidency in the 2007 Kenyan general election. This was said to have been met with condemnation from some of his colleagues including former President Moi. However, in the formation of the Cabinet in 2008 after the election was won, amid heated political crises, by Mwai Kibaki, Ruto was appointed the Minister for Agriculture.

7. Ruto was was among the people indicted to stand trial at the International Criminal Court for their involvement in Kenya’s 2007/2008 political violence.

8. Ruto also became the Eldoret North’s Member of Parliament from 2008 to March 4, 2013.

9. In the 2013 presidential election, Ruto was elected the Deputy President alongside President Uhuru Kenyatta and served till 2022. He served as the acting President of Kenya between October 5 and 8, 2014 while President Kenyatta was away at the Hague.

10. The 55-year-old is married to Rachel Chebet and they both have seven children.

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Headline

Morocco Jails Student One Year Over Gen Z Protest

Published

3 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A student arrested during Morocco’s youth-led protests has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

The case marks the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the kingdom’s Gen Z demonstrations, which have been held near-daily between late September and last week to demand social and political reforms.

The student was charged with “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information”, lawyer Mohamed Nouini said.

“The ruling is unfair, and we will appeal,” he added, arguing that sit-ins did not require authorisation as per a Supreme Court precedent.

The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests erupted in the North African country.

According to a report by news website Hespress, citing another lawyer, the student’s arrest was “an unfortunate coincidence” as he was in Casablanca for a family visit.

The other lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the judge the student had “not insulted” police nor provided false information, telling them he “was just a student”, according to the report.

Hundreds were arrested during the early days of the largely peaceful demonstrations.

Some cities had seen spates of violence and acts of vandalism, while authorities have said three people were killed by police acting in “self-defence” during clashes in a village near Agadir.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said roughly 550 people are facing prosecution on suspicion of joining the protests, with some still in detention.

The organisers of the online-based movement behind the nationwide protests, the GenZ 212 youth collective, remain unknown.

The collective has called for “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of those arrested during the demonstrations.

The protest came after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir.

But protesters have also demanded reforms to the education system and a change of government.
AFP

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Trump Refiles $15bn Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Published

4 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House, and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.

The Times’ complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump, and its excessive 85-page length.

The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.

It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.

The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.

It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”

“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.

The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”

Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.

In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.

AFP

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Italian Journalist’s Car Bombed, No Casualties

Published

4 hours ago

October 17, 2025

Editor

A bomb destroyed the vehicle of a prominent Italian journalist overnight, without causing casualties, his investigative television news show announced Friday.

Sigfrido Ranucci’s car blew up in an explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, that also damaged the family’s other car and the house next door, according to Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television.

“The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at the moment,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned what she called a “serious act of intimidation”.

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“The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend,” she wrote on X.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he had ordered an increase in the journalist’s security “to the maximum”.

He called the attack a “cowardly and extremely serious act that represents an attack not only on the person but on the freedom of the press and the fundamental values of our democracy”.

The Report show is known for its in-depth investigative reports.

According to the campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Italy ranks 49th in the world in terms of press freedom.

“Journalists who investigate organised crime and corruption are systematically threatened and sometimes subjected to physical violence for their investigative work,” it said in its latest update.

About 20 journalists currently live under permanent police protection after being the targets of intimidation and attacks, it added.

AFP