Deputy President William Ruto once proposed to build a mansion for his parents but they declined.
In a past interview with The Standard when reporters visited his mother Sarah Cheruiyot at Kamagut Village in Uasin Gishu County, she stated the reason for the decision.
When the DP established his businesses in Nairobi, he volunteered to upgrade the living conditions of his family back at home.
For Sarah, she prioritised education more than lifestyle and when her son went to her with the plan to build a state-of-the-art home, she let him down easy.
Instead, they asked the DP to direct the money towards his siblings' education.
"We did not see the need for a big house then as we were satisfied with what we had. Our concern was education," Sarah told the reporters.
After persistent requests, Ruto’s parents ceded ground and let him build a simple modern house for them.
They were rumours that despite his success, the DP’s family lived in a shady home but that did not bother his mother.
"When he announced that he was running for a parliamentary seat, his opponents sent people to our home to see how we lived.
“Many confessed that they had been told we lived in a grass thatched house," she explained.
