William Ruto was declared as the new President of Kenya

After six days of waiting, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) reported that William Ruto is the new president of Kenya. With 50.5% of the votes, the candidate, who was serving as vice president of the country, took the victory against 49% reaped by Raila Odinga, former prime minister of the East African country.

“In accordance with the Constitution and the law, the President of the IEBC hereby declares that Ruto William Samoei has been duly elected President of the Republic of Kenya,” said Wafula Chebukati, Chairman of the Kenya Vote Counting Commission. .

Ruto exceeded the threshold of 50% plus one of the votes, a legal requirement to avoid a second presidential round. Kenya has around 55 million inhabitants, of which 21.1 could vote in these elections.

According to the Commission, Ruto, 55, obtained 7.7 million votes. His main opponent, 77, won 6.9 million votes, followed by lawyers George Wajackoyah with around 61,900 and David Mwaure with almost 32,000 votes.

In the elections held last week, Kenyans not only chose a new president, they also chose 290 deputies for the lower house and 47 for the upper house. In the same way, there were elections for governors and the legislative assemblies of the 47 counties that the country has.

The announcement, questioned by the opposition

When the results were announced at the IEBC headquarters in Nairobi, shouts and harangues were heard, the lectern was thrown from the stage and the police had to intervene to restore order to the place.

Despite doubts about the transparency of the results and of four of the seven commissioners that make up the IEBC, Chebukati, president of the organization, defended the results and invited citizens to exercise their rights.

“There is the option that people can go to justice and, therefore, we urge Kenyans to be peaceful because the rule of law will prevail,” Juliana Cherera, vice president of the Commission, said at a press conference.

Under Kenyan law, if there is no challenge before the Supreme Court seven days after the results are announced, Ruto should take office as the nation’s first president at the end of August.

If there is any challenge request, the Court will have 14 days to resolve the validity of the presidential vote.

Ruto, candidate of the Kenya First (Kenya Kwanza) coalition, thanked those who supported him, “I want to promise the people of Kenya that I will have a democratic government and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they supervise the government,” he assured.

Similarly, he greeted his opponent and invited them to work together for the country. For his part, Odinga, who was competing for the fifth time as a candidate, has not spoken personally about the announcement.

Since the campaign of the defeated Odinga they said that electoral crimes have been committed, without giving further details. Martha Karua, a vice-presidential candidate and former justice minister, tweeted saying, “It ain’t over til it’s over…”

For its part, the Commission invited Kenyans to review the election results. With the help of different organizations, more than 46,000 forms were published in an effort to guarantee the transparency of the elections. In the last three elections in 2007, 2013 and 2017, Odinga had already reported being a victim of fraud.

Ruto regretted the facts and assured that it is a “secondary show that does not represent any threat to the legality of the statement.” He also praised the participation figure, which registered a figure slightly above 65%.

In Kenya, violence in electoral contexts is not atypical. In 2007, at least 1,100 deaths were reported; while in 2017, more than 100 people were killed after the Supreme Court annulled the initial result due to irregularities in the electoral process, in what was the second and last term for the outgoing president, Uhuru Kenyatta.

The “son of a nobody”

The now millionaire William Ruto, the son of a peasant, had to go to school barefoot and helped his family by selling chickens as a child, he said during the campaign. “He may be the son of a nobody, but we want to make Kenya a country for everyone,” said Ruto in the race for the position that he leads today.

Ruto has a reputation for “hypnotizing the masses” and has been successful in business, currently amassing a large amount of assets, although he has not escaped various corruption scandals.

In 2010 he was suspended as Minister of Higher Education, after being accused of receiving money from the illegal sale of state forest land, however, he was acquitted as the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission found insufficient evidence.

With the phrase “hustlers against dynasties”, the newly appointed president of Kenya attracted the vote of the most disadvantaged and criticized Kenyatta and Odinga, sons of the country’s first president and first vice president respectively.

Similarly, he championed the fight against youth unemployment, assuring that “it is a time bomb that represents a great threat to the stability of the country.” Ruto promised an economy “from the bottom up”, benefiting the most needy .

A country with stability but with great challenges ahead

Kenya is considered the most democratic nation in East Africa, as well as being one of the most important engines of the economy, being the sixth African power and seen as an ally of the West.

Compared to the rest of the countries in the region, it has a dynamic financial system, a prosperous technology sector and is known as an “oasis” due to the relative peace it lives in. However, if Ruto finally takes office, he will face an economic and social crisis caused, initially, by the impact of the pandemic and now, by the increase in food and fuel prices, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. .

As Kenya’s foreign debt mounts, the north of the country is facing its worst drought in 40 years, leaving an estimated 4.1 million people dependent on humanitarian aid.

According to World Bank figures, the country’s growth is expected to fall by 7.5% at the end of this year, to maintain an average of 5.2% between 2023 and 2024. In addition, the NGO Transparency International placed Kenya in ranked 128th out of 180 in its latest Global Corruption Perceptions Index.

According to the same NGO, each year 6,000 million dollars are lost from the State budget since, according to their figures, corruption has skyrocketed by 240% over the last 10 years, just taking into account public contracts, so they have stopped investment projects in health, education, infrastructure, among others.

With AP, Reuters and EFE