Do we like William Ruto?
Our score: 3 out of 10. Some real work on climate and a rags-to-presidency story, but his own words on gender and sexuality and the protest crackdowns weigh heavily.
Ruto's origin story is the one he sells hardest: a kid from the Rift Valley who sold chickens by a railway crossing, then got into politics in 1992 heading a youth movement backing then-president Daniel arap Moi. He won a parliamentary seat in 1997, became deputy president under Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013, and got sidelined after Kenyatta teamed up with Raila Odinga. He fought his way back and won the presidency in 2022.
The rough bit: in June 2024 Kenyans took to the streets over a Finance Bill, and Amnesty International accused police of killing 23 people, injuring 300 and abducting 22 protesters, saying Ruto should face the ICC. His televised address called the protests treasonous. The government has not directly answered Amnesty's specific claims, and he did pull the bill.
A year later he said that police should shoot violent protesters in the leg. His words: “They shouldn't kill the person, but they should hit the legs to break them.” Kenya's human rights commission counted at least 31 dead and 532 arrests after the protests of 7 July 2025, and the UN human rights office voiced deep concern. In August 2025 he announced a framework to compensate people hurt or killed in protests since 2017, though details on who qualifies and how much were not disclosed.
The recent stuff is petty brawling. In March he made personal jibes about unnamed opposition rivals at rallies, and the opposition and civil society groups warned it could inflame tensions before the 2027 vote. Then in October he turned on Kenyatta, accusing him of conning him and telling him to “retire”. Rivals like Rigathi Gachagua have returned fire, calling him corrupt, which Ruto has denied.
The good stuff is real, if patchy. Time put him on its 2023 climate leaders list after Kenya hosted the first Africa Climate Summit, which reported securing about $23 billion for climate projects. He has pushed a 15 billion tree target by 2030, but the government's own officials put progress at roughly 14 to 15 per cent as of this month.
So where does that leave us? He's a hardworking striver with a genuine climate push, and one whose public words on gender and sexuality are the opposite of what our readers want from a leader. Add the protest deaths and the way he talks about rivals, and he's a hard no to cheer for.