After a long wait for the election results, the verdict came in on Monday 15 August 2022 in Nairobi. According to the Chairman of the Electoral Commission Wafula Chebukati, William Ruto won the election with 50.49% of the votes to become the new President of Kenya. Ruto’s victory over his challenger Odinga was not unanimous, even within the commission, with four of the Seven members of the institution contested the results, followed by high tensions throughout the country.
William Ruto, 55, is the first Kalenjin to come to power in twenty years after two presidents from the Kikuyu community, including the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta. After six days of waiting following the elections in Kenya, Deputy President William Ruto with more than seven million votes is ahead of his opponent Raila Odinga who got 233,211 votes, which is 48.85% of the vote. The results, announced by Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the electoral commission, make William Ruto the new strongman of Kenya.
Ruto announces a mandate of unity.
A few hours after the results were announced, William Ruto said in an announcement that he wanted to work with all politicians in Kenya in a transparent, open and democratic country. “There is no space for revenge,” said the newly elected president, who says he is fully aware that “the country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck. We are not going to look back but rather look to the future, our country needs all hands on deck to move forward.
This victory was achieved against a backdrop of challenges within the electoral commission.
Prior to the announcement of the results that made William Ruto the winner of the presidential election, the chairman of the electoral commission Wafula Chebukati denounced several abuses including the injury of two of his commissioners. However, in the same electoral commission, the results are contested by most of the seven-member commission. From a hotel in Nairobi, the deputy chairperson of the Electoral Commission (IEBC) Juliana Cherera said she could not “take responsibility for the results that are going to be announced, because of the obscure nature of the process, while calling on Kenyans to be calm. ”.
Following the same logic, another protester, Francis Wanderi, on the evening of 15 August, declared – “we We had not been informed throughout the process and had asked the Chairperson of the Commission to provide an update on how the tabulation of results was proceeding. Then we got to the final results count and we felt that we were not part of that final report, although we had conducted the elections in the most transparent way”.
There are protests among the population, especially in the west.
Protests broke out after the results were announced in some parts of Nairobi including Kibera and Mathare. The protests forced police to use tear gas in Kisumu, a town that has been quiet since the elections and was hoping for the victory of their favourite candidate Raila Odinga for a town that often sees itself excluded from the political game. This tension has continued to rise through several demonstrations including tyres on the main roads and people’s protests.
William Ruto’s development plans for Kenya.
William Ruto’s vision for society is based on creating jobs for the youth. During the campaigns, William Ruto promised to create jobs for young people through the textile, copper and timber industries in this country of over 50 million inhabitants. The fight against corruption is also a major challenge that William Ruto intends to address.
Thierry Hounye (stag).
