Who Is Aaron Cheruiyot? Senate Majority Leader and Kindiki Defender

Aaron Cheruiyot (Senator, Kericho) has led the government side of the Senate as Majority Leader since the 13th Parliament opened in 2022. Few people in Parliament are closer to President William Ruto. On 16 September 2026 he told a crowd in Meru that Deputy President Kithure Kindiki would stay on as Ruto's running mate in 2027, and with that he walked into the middle of the fight over the second slot on the ticket.

Kericho and Moi University

Wikipedia records that Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot was born on 23 February 1986 and grew up in Kericho County. He went to Kericho High School and Moi University, where he studied language and literature, and later took a marketing diploma at the Kenya Institute of Management.

He first won the Kericho Senate seat in 2017. He held it in 2022 on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, and the majority side made him its leader in the House.

The Majority Leader's job

The Majority Leader moves government business and rounds up the votes. In Cheruiyot's case that meant steering the government's Senate agenda through the Finance Bill protests of 2024, and then through the October 2024 impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, which the Senate confirmed.

The impeachment has not gone away. On 26 July 2026 Junet Mohamed (Suna East), the National Assembly Minority Leader, alleged at a public event in Bungoma that some legislators received money during the process and described Cheruiyot as the "accounting officer", Capital FM reported. He gave no evidence and walked back part of the claim in August. No investigation has substantiated any such payment.

In September 2025, at the burial of Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah's father, Cheruiyot said Ichung'wah had opposed Gachagua's selection as Ruto's running mate in 2022 and that "time has proved" him right, The Star reported.

The Kindiki pledge

At the Ura Gate Cultural Festival near Meru National Park on 16 September 2026, Cheruiyot told the Meru community not to worry about whether Ruto would keep Kindiki. "Do not be stressed about whether President Ruto will pick Prof Kindiki. He has delivered," he said, as reported by The Standard. He added that UDA delegates had chosen Kindiki as running mate in 2022 before Gachagua secured the slot, and that he expected Kindiki to succeed Ruto in 2032.

The statement landed while Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) figures were openly bidding for the deputy presidency as part of a pact with UDA; names raised included Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and Treasury CS John Mbadi. See the running-mate question and what the deputy presidency is worth.

The Nakuru feud

Next door in Nakuru, his visits have not been welcome everywhere. In July 2026 The Star reported that Susan Kihika (Governor, Nakuru) had attacked a closed-door meeting he held with Kalenjin MPs at Solai as divisive, and told him to stay out of Nakuru politics.

Jayne Kihara (Naivasha) went further and accused him of saying people would be brought in to register as voters in Nakuru. That is her account. The same report did not carry a reply from Cheruiyot.

Other things he said in 2026

• On 8 September 2026 he said Ruto's remarks ordering foreign small traders to regularise had been taken out of context and urged restraint.
• On 23 September he defended the Referendum Bill 2026, saying it would give a single framework for how referendums are run, The Standard reported.
• He moved the motion for the Senate to sit in Kilifi County from 21 to 26 September 2026 under its "Senate Mashinani" programme, Capital FM reported.
• In September 2025 he told Uhuru Kenyatta, the retired President, to keep off politics.

2027

Cheruiyot has not said in public whether he wants a third Senate term or some other seat in 2027. His Meru speech was meant to settle the deputy presidency question. It will stay open until UDA and ODM sign a pre-election agreement, if they ever do. For how the Senate works, see what a Senator actually does. Our profile of Aden Duale covers another of Ruto's front-line defenders.