Capt. William Ruto: Meet New Kenya Ports Authority Boss

Capt. William Kipkemboi Ruto has been named as the new Managing Director of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). The appointment was confirmed by Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.

It took effect on Friday, March 10. He will serve for a three-year period.

He is the first substantive Managing Director at KPA since Daniel Manduku resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations three years ago. Ruto was the KPA manager in charge of Kisumu port. He has previously served as  KPA’s General Manager Operations and Harbour Master.

He is an experienced mariner, having began his career at KPA in 1991 as a cadet marine deck officer. At sea, he served as a deck officer on vessels including tankers and general cargo vessels, and eventually took command of a general cargo ship.

He qualified as a Ship Captain (Class 1 Master Mariner) at South Tyneside Marine College, in the United Kingdom, where he also attained a Higher National Diploma in Nautical Science.

Ruto in 2020 also took over as Chairman of Bandari FC, the KPA-affiliated team in the Kenyan Premier League.

Murkomen disclosed that 75 people applied for the MD role at KPA in a recruitment exercise that started on December 23, 2022.

The CS stated that Ruto emerged with the highest aggregate scores in the interview process, and expressed confidence in his ability to deliver in the role. Among those who were interviewed were KPA insiders Dr Sudi Mwasinago (General Manager Operations) and Vincent Sidai (General Manager Lamu Port).