President William Ruto has recounted how the late President Daniel Arap Moi once publicly humiliated him and warned voters in Uasin Gishu against electing him as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Eldoret North, arguing that he came from an unknown family background.
Speaking on Monday, October 6, at the State House during the launch of Marsden Madoka’s book, President Ruto reflected on his early political journey, saying he was the underdog in the 1997 elections.
The head of State stated that he faced open resistance from the powerful Kenya African National Union (KANU) machinery, including Moi, who publicly urged voters to support more established and wealthy candidates.
“When I was first elected a Member of Parliament, I was not in very good books with the KANU government at that time, although I was a KANU MP. I did not decide that I was going to run, but one thing led to another, and then I found myself running for the MP seat. KANU was the dominant party, and Moi was a very strong leader,” he recalled.
“When I decided to run, I was not the favorite for the KANU party; there were senior people whose brands were known. I was really the underdog; people did not know me, and we didn’t have a history of any leadership in our family.”
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President William Ruto revealed that during his first campaign, he struggled to gain recognition among voters, forcing him to use familiar figures to identify himself.
“The closest I remember during the campaign, for people to understand who I was, I had to refer to one of our neighbours — Paul Boit, a former County Council member in Uasin Gishu and a wealthy person. That is the closest I came to in terms of brand,” Ruto said.
Ruto Recalls How Moi Warned Voters Against Electing Him MP Over ‘Unknown Background’
He noted that his outspokenness at the time stemmed from feeling mistreated by the KANU and its leadership.
“When I ran in the KANU election, the KANU machine was really against me, and Moi himself came to Eldoret and told people to elect those who were known, such as former MP Saina and wealthy people like Chesire,” Ruto recalled.
“Moi firmly said that he understood some characters were running around here whom they did not know, so he cautioned voters to be very careful.”
He added, “I was in the crowd there, but it did not deter me. I ran and finally defeated these big people in the KANU nominations.”
He narrated that during a subsequent presidential rally in Eldoret, Moi publicly expressed his reservations about his nomination, questioning his family background.
“President Moi came to Eldoret for the presidential rally. Now I had been nominated — we were three people nominated for Uasin Gishu. He thanked people for nominating one of three unopposed candidates and a teacher, too, who was also nominated,” Ruto said.
“When he came to me, he said, ‘Then there is this other one whose parents I don’t know, but because he has been nominated as a KANU Member, please vote for him,’” Ruto recounted.
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The Head of State said he felt Moi’s comments were unfair, as they cast doubt on his ability to lead simply because he lacked a prominent background.
“That was the problem. I felt it was very unfair that not having a background became a big problem in my election,” Ruto said.
Moi Thought I Was ‘Noisy’ Until He Realised I Made Sense- Ruto
Ruto added that after winning the seat, his outspoken nature caught Moi’s attention, leading to both tension and eventual respect between the two.
“After I had been elected, I used to speak a lot. Moi started to see that this man is noisy, but he speaks sense,” he said.
According to Ruto, Moi later sent Bishop Yego and Hosea Kiplagat to discuss the matter with him.
“He told them that this young man, I understand he is a member of our church, but why is he making noise? Why don’t you look for him?” Ruto recalled.
The President said the two advised him to tone down his criticism and work closely with Moi, which eventually earned him the former president’s trust.
“They cornered me, and I had to tone down. And finally, I made friends with President Moi, and he came to realise that I wasn’t a very useless person making noise,” Ruto said.
One and a half years after his election as a Member of Parliament, Moi appointed President Ruto as an Assistant Minister.
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 President Moi after disagreements over the 2002 succession.
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