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10 Things To Know About Kenya President-elect, Ruto

Published

2 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

Police Storm Iranian Embassy In Paris After Man ‘In Suicide Vest’ Threatened To Blow Himself Up

Published

32 mins ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A man has surrendered to police after he reportedly threatened to blow himself up at the Iranian consulate in Paris with a suicide vest.

According to Mail Online, the man gave himself after 2pm, walking out of the consulate with his hands in the air and giving himself over to police at the scene.

‘He had no explosives or weapons on him,’ said a security source. ‘He was placed under arrest immediately and taken away to a secure police station for questioning.’

Specialist BRI officers continued to swarm around the area, together with sniffer dogs, just in case explosives had been hidden in the area.

‘The security perimeter will be maintained for a while yet,’ said the source.

The individual was for a time holed up inside the building in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement in a room with the ambassador, one report said.

He was said to be wearing an explosive belt and equipped with an object that resembled a grenade, Europe 1 and other sources reported earlier.

The area was cordoned off and evacuated, with a police source saying that an ‘intervention was imminent’.

This suggested officers had been preparing to storm the building.

‘A witness saw a man enter carrying a grenade or an explosive belt,’ a source told France’s AFP news agency, adding that an elite police unit had been mobilised after the consulate requested an intervention.

‘The man presented him at the consulate, and then removed his coat, to show off an alleged explosives vest,’ another security source said at the scene.

‘He said he was carrying a grenade, and then placed a national flag on the floor. He said he wanted to avenge his brother.’

Police ordered the city’s Metro Line 6 to be interrupted as a safety measure.

Europe 1 reported that the embassy contacted the police requesting assistance, reporting that the man was inside the building. It said he was holed up in a room inside the consulate ‘in the presence of the ambassador’.

There were no reports of an explosion.

The incident came amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran, with the Jewish state today launching strikes against the Islamic Republic.

This was in response to Iran launching over 300 missiles toward Israel on Saturday, 99 percent of which were intercepted by Israel and its allies.

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Best Airports In Africa For 2024 Named, Nigeria Missing [Full List]

Published

2 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

Skytrax, a UK-based airline and airport review and ranking site has named Cape Town International Airport in South Africa as the best airport in Africa for 2024.

This came after Skytrax conducted a survey from August 2023 until March 2024, in which respondents are polled on a variety of areas, from check-in, arrivals, transfers, shopping, security and immigration, through to departure. Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey.

It was also stated that Cape Town airport has the ‘Best airport staff service in Africa’ while Durban King Shaka Airport, which came second, had an additional award for ‘Best regional airport in Africa’.

Johannesburg’s Tambo International Airport came third, while the Mohammed V International Airport serving Casablanca, Morocco, polled fourth.

At fifth place was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius, with Morocco making another entry via Menara Airport in Marrakesh for sixth place.

Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport, the hub of Ethiopian Airline, was ranked seventh, while the Kigali International Airport in Rwanda scooped the eight spot.

Cairo International Airport in Egypt took the ninth position while Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had the tenth place.

See the full list below for the Best African Airports 2024:

Cape Town

Durban King Shaka

Johannesburg

Casablanca

Mauritius

Marrakech

Addis Ababa

Kigali

Cairo

Nairobi.

Headline

UPDATED: Defence Chief, Nine Others Die In Kenya Military Helicopter Crash

Published

23 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Editor

A Kenyan military helicopter carrying top brass including the defence chief crashed on Thursday, police said.

President William Ruto convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council, his office announced after news of the crash emerged.

Defence forces chief General Francis Omondi Ogolla was among those on board the helicopter that went down in Elgeyo Marakwet county, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, a senior police officer told AFP.

“The helicopter burst into flames after crashing and it had more than 10 senior commanders on board including General Ogolla,” the officer said.

“They were in the area on a security mission because there are KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) soldiers deployed in the region,” he said.

Earlier, there was no report of official comment on casualties.

“President William Ruto has convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council at State House Nairobi this evening following a Kenya Defence Forces’ helicopter crash this afternoon in Elgeyo-Marakwet County,” State House spokesman Hussein Mohamed said in a statement.

Ogolla, 61, was appointed Chief of the Defence Forces by Ruto in April last year after a stint as deputy.

Ruto told journalists last May that he appointed Ogolla despite him being among those who tried to overturn his narrow election win against opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2022.

“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be (a) general,” Ruto said, adding his decision went against the wishes of many people.

A trained fighter pilot, Ogolla joined the KDF in April 1984, rising through the ranks to command the Kenyan Air Force in 2018, a post he held for three years.

However, in a latest report, President Ruto said Ogolla and nine other senior military officers died in a helicopter crash on Thursday.

He added that only two survived the air accident.

“Today at 2:20 pm, our nation suffered a tragic air accident… I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla,” Ruto said.

AFP