William Samoei arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician. He has been Deputy President of Kenya since 2013. Ruto served as the Acting President of Kenya between 5 and 8 October 2014 while President Uhuru Kenyatta was away at the Hague. He previously served in various ministerial positions including the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Higher Education. He was Secretary General of KANU, the former ruling political party. Ruto was a member of Parliament for Eldoret North Constituency between December 1997 and January 2013. He won the seat in the 1997 Kenyan election after defeating Reuben Chesire.