Deputy President William Ruto in 2018 added yet another title – ‘Doctor’ – to his name after graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Plant Ecology at the University of Nairobi (UoN).
The DP’s graduation came six years since he enrolled for the course at University of Nairobi in August 2012.
Ruto submitted his thesis – titled ‘Influence of human activities on land use changes on environmental quality of riparian ecosystems: A case study of Saiwa Swamp watershed, Western Kenya’ – in September 2018.
He did not make it to the graduation list two years ago after he failed to meet the necessary requirements.
The question that would linger in any Kenyan’s mind is how he managed such an intensive program such as a PhD with ease, given that it can take up to six years to complete it?
The most intensive and time consuming part of a PhD is not the ‘dissertation idea’, or the experiments, or the writing. It is learning how to do research.
PhD students know in theory how to do research, most of them even take courses claiming to teach them research methodologies. But no amount of advice/reading/courses will prepare one for the experience of conceiving an idea, driving through the experiments and communicating the results to the community.
So how could Deputy President William Ruto have managed that intense pressure while helping President Uhuru Kenyatta run the country? It is believed that he hired Prof. Japheth Michemi Ntiba, now PS Fisheries and Blue Economy, to do it for him. Prof. Japheth Ntiba, the PS Fisheries and Blue Economy
PS Prof Ntiba holds a BSc in Biological Sciences and a master’s degree in Hydrobiology from the University of Nairobi. He went on to receive his PhD in Fisheries Biology from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, was Director of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nairobi and held various positions at the Department of Zoology.
Ruto’s heavy involvement in politics speaks volumes. He began his political career by vying for various KANU (then Kenya’s ruling party) branch party positions. Through his church activities, he met his future mentor, President Daniel Arap Moi and helped to found a lobby group Youth for Kanu ’92.
The group that was formed to drum up support for President Daniel arap Moi in the 1992 election. YK’92 was inspired by UK Labour Youth leaders and the youth wing of the Indian National Congress in its mobilization efforts for Moi’s re-election.
However, it became notorious for hooliganism, orchestrating ethnic violence and dishing out billions of Kenya Shillings in the campaign, claims that the group continues to refute. Ruto served as treasurer of YK’92 and learned the ropes of Kenyan politics there. He is also believed to have accumulated some wealth in this period.
Ruto is a self proclaimed chicken seller as was revealed back in December 2019 when he returned to where it all began- Jua Kali, Uasin Gishu county, where he presided over the second edition of the chicken auction.
The event which was meant to empower small-scale farmers in the region managed to raise Ksh 11 million.
But how could he have gone from someone selling chicken to being amongst the richest politicians we have at the moment? It is a question Ruto is yet to reveal to Kenyans.
What also Kenyans are curious to know about is his employment history, since it takes connections to get into politics. As at the moment he has never revealed to Kenyans his employment history, not even indicated on his LinkedIn profile after spot checks by 254news.co.ke
His Weston Hotel, the one he reportedly built from his chicken business is in the eye of a storm over alleged land issues. Could his chicken business have earned him enough to build a hotel valued at Ksh300million?
Ruto is a man who says little and does more, as he has been up to recently. As such, he is one that covers up a lot of things, including his career progression.
It would therefore compel him to explain to Kenyans his career progression because very few individuals start their career in the political scene straight after university education.
Ex University of Nairobi’s Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Mulwa Felix Mbithi has been on the lips of Kenyans and his suspension and exit from office was linked to him offering fake PhDs, which would lead many to believe that DP Ruto’s PhD was acquired under scrupulous reasons. The Professor of veterinary was also accused of embezzlement of funds, a culture that Kenyans closely associate with Kenya’s Deputy President.
Whether it was fake or not is entirely up to him to come out and clarify, as well as the instructors who were in charge of Ruto’s program.
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