Ruto: Man named Ochieng’ was interested in June but he vanished

DP William Ruto, his wife Rachel during their daughter's wedding in Karen. (Courtesy)

Deputy President William Ruto has revealed he would have been happier if his first-born daughter, June, married a Kenyan man instead of a Nigerian.

Making the revelation during an interview with Gidi of Radio Jambo, Ruto stated there were rumors his daughter was involved with a Kenyan only identified as Ochieng’, but he disappeared without notice.

“Ningefurahi sana kama msichana wangu angepata mkenya lakini ni mpango wa Mungu and uamuzi wake pia. Kulikuwa na wakati niliskia fununu kulikuwa na jamaa anitwa Ochieng’, nilikuwa nimemwona lakini akapotea, sijui kuliendaje. (I would have been happy if my daughter got a Kenyan man, but it’s God’s plan and her decision. There was a time I heard rumors that there was a man name Ochieng’, I had seen him, but he disappeared, I don’t know what happened),” said Ruto, while responding to a fan who asked how he felt when he married off his daughter to a Nigerian.

William Ruto and his daughter June.

The DP further joked that he wished June got married and settled in Kenya as he invested in taking her to the best schools in the country, only for her to go and live in Nigeria.

However, Ruto is still hopeful as he has other daughters and urged Kenyan men not to waste time.

“Bado niko na wasichana, sasa mimi nawaombea kina Irungu, Ochieng wajipange wasizubae,” said Ruto.

June got married over a month ago to Dr Alexander Ezenagu in a colourful wedding ceremony attended by close friends and family in Karen, Nairobi.

In his speech during the wedding, DP Ruto joked that it was difficult to give away his daughter to a Nigerian due to his past experiences with them.

June Ruto and husband Dr Alexander Ezenagu during their traditional wedding.

“It is both an exciting and anxious moment. It is not easy as a parent to give away your daughter. It is much more difficult if you are giving away your daughter to Nigerians.

“It is much more difficult when you are giving your daughter to Ibos (people living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria who speak Igbo),” said Ruto.

Ruto even narrated the story of Anthony Chinedu, a man who hit Kenyan headlines for some time and had to be deported.

“When I first met Alex (June’s husband) I told him a story of a guy called Chinedu who gave us a lot of trouble and I was told that man was an Igbo.

“So you can understand…this Chinedu fellow gave us so much trouble that we deported him to Nigeria and when we deported him he refused to get out of the aeroplane in Lagos for two days. Even after leaving him there, we found him in Kenya.”