Politics

09 June 2022

• In 2022, a year later, Babior Newton had the complete book. When he presented the book to Ruto, "He was so surprised, happy and called his pals, telling them there is a book about him."

Deputy President William Ruto's biographer Babior Newton says he himself was a hustler.

Newton's book on Ruto is called 'The rise of a hustler: From chicken seller to presidency'.

Speaking to Mpasho, Babior said, "I was born in Seme. My father, who worked as a mechanic, could only provide a meal and money to send us to school. Our hut had a leaking roof but [there was] no money to repair it.

"When I came to Nairobi, life was so hard. I was paying rent of Sh1,800 in Kariobangi South. And finding food for myself and all that had to be funded by my job as a cleaner."

Babior's vision after hustling was to never be employed but to earn money by hustling using various means.

"I would do many menial jobs and get paid at the end of the day."

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya noticed Babior after he wrote a biography on ODM leader Raila Odinga called, 'The Raila Conspiracy'.

"He bought my book and asked me to meet him. On the day [of the meeting], I waited for him for 8 hours but it was worth the wait because, through him, I got to meet Ruto."

Talking about his meeting with Ruto, Babior said, "Meeting Ruto was a coincidence, but when it happened, we blended well. He is a very focused person.

"I told him I would pen his story, and he laughed and asked me how old I was in 1992? I told him I had not started school at the time.

"He laughed but I told him to give me a year, I will come back to you with the book."

In 2022, a year later, Babior had the complete book. When he presented the book to Ruto, "He was so surprised, happy and called his pals, telling them there is a book about him."

Asked which section of the book Ruto liked the most, Babior said, "His favourite part of the book is the chapter on his childhood and other chapters like the famous Y2K, defeating Reuben Chesire, who was Moi's blue-eyed boy."

Babior's life and hustles are also inspired by Ruto's hustler story.

"When Ruto started talking about the hustler story, it gave us the freedom to speak about our own stories."

He narrated how his dad never told him 'no' despite how outrageous the requests were.

"One day, I told my father that I wanted him to buy me either a plane or a car. I was seven years old. He brought me a toy, which I turned down because I wanted a real car like what I used to see on the roads.

"He laughed and told me he will buy it for me when I'm able to able to drive.

"I came to learn that everything he was giving us was out of sacrifice. And that made me build him a home, which took me 12 months to build."