Deputy President William Ruto has won Kenya’s highly contested presidential race with 50.49 % of the votes. Opposition strong hold, Raila Odinga trailed-in second with 48.85%, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya announced Monday.
“I stand before you amidst intimidation but I am certain we have walked the journey of ensuring that Kenyans get free, fair and credible elections,” said Wafula Chebukati, Chairman IEBC of Kenya.
Presidential candidates, Wajackoyah and Waihiga who collectively got less than 1% of the votes had conceded defeat Monday morning.
There were delays in the official announcement following Raila Odinga deliberate abscondment from the Bomas of Kenya as disruption ensured with his supporters signaling ringing claims.
Four electrical commisioners addressed a parallel presser a few minutes to the official announcement, disowning the election results.” We cannot take the ownership of the results of the presidential election because of the opaque nature of counting,” said Juliana Cherera, the commission’s Deputy Chairperson.
William Samoei Arap Ruto becames the 5th president of Kenya a midst imminent economic challenges not ignoring a potential political turmoil.
Speaking shortly after his victory announcement at the Bomas of Kenya, Ruto vowed to work with all leaders, “There is no room for vengeance,I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck,”said Ruto.
Born William Samoei arap Ruto on the 21 December 1966 three years after his country attained independence from Britain, William Ruto has become Kenya’s 5th president 55 years later. He has been Deputy President of Kenya since 2013 and has served as the Acting President of Kenya between 5 and 8 October 2014 while President Uhuru Kenyatta was away at the Hague.
Ruto previously served in various ministerial positions including the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Higher Education. He was Secretary General of KANU, the former ruling political party. Ruto was a member of Parliament for Eldoret North Constituency between December 1997 and January 2013.
In rather unlikely events,Ruto has been charged with crimes including murder by the International Criminal Court in a trial that started on 10th September 2013. The charges against him were dropped in 2016 due to lack of evidence by Fatou Bensouda,a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
On 12 April 2022, Kenya Kwanza political coalition endorsed Ruto as its presidential candidate for 2022 elections following a fall out with his boss, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Nearing the end of his second and final term, President Kenyatta’s relationship with his deputy and by then likely successor William Ruto took a turn in early 2018, when the latter entered into a pact with opposition leader Raila Odinga.
In the build up to elections, Ruto won sympathy from many Kenyans with his famous notion, ‘The hustler’.
About 65 % of the 22 million registered voters came out to vote in the August 9th poll a number said to be lower than expected compared to the 2017, 78% turnout.
The same elections saw Ruto winning majority senators, but Raila garnered more MPs. Ruto further edges Raila with majority governors however two counties are yet to vote.
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