Uhuru Kenyatta

Uhuru Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth President of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. He is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president and founding father, making him part of one of the country's most prominent political dynasties. Kenyatta was born in Nairobi in 1961 and entered politics in the 1990s, initially serving as a member of Parliament and later holding ministerial portfolios including finance and deputy prime minister under President Mwai Kibaki. He became leader of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) party before co-founding The National Alliance (TNA), which later merged into the Jubilee Party. Kenyatta won the presidency in 2013 alongside running mate William Ruto, forming an alliance that brought together two leaders who had faced charges at the International Criminal Court related to post-election violence in 2007–2008, though the charges were later dropped or withdrawn. He was re-elected in 2017 in a contested poll that required a Supreme Court-ordered rerun. During his tenure, Kenyatta oversaw major infrastructure projects and pursued regional integration within the East African Community, though his administration also faced criticism over debt accumulation and governance issues. His presidency was marked by a political rapprochement with longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga through the 2018 "handshake" agreement, which shifted Kenya's political landscape. Kenyatta handed over power to William Ruto in 2022 following Ruto's election victory, marking Kenya's fourth peaceful transfer of power since independence.