William Samoei Ruto Declared the fifth president of Kenya

In Summary
  • The new president announced after a six-day wait
  • The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate garnered 7,176,141 (50.49 per cent) votes beating his closest challenger, Azimio’s Raila Odinga, who managed 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).
William Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto has been declared President-Elect after sailing past the ‘50 per cent plus one’ constitutional threshold that requires a winner in a presidential election to garner 50 per cent of votes cast and an additional vote to avoid a runoff.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate garnered 7,176,141 (50.49 per cent) votes beating his closest challenger, Azimio’s Raila Odinga, who managed 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent).

Odinga, a veteran opposition leader, was making his fifth stab with the backing of the ruling Jubilee Party led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The declaration of Ruto as President-Elect was made by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after a nearly 6-day tallying exercise at the National Tallying Center at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi.

Of the 47 counties, the leader of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance garnered over 25 per cent of the vote in 39 counties.

IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, who addressed the nation at 6pm, three hours after an earlier slated time, said Ruto also garnered 25 per cent of votes in twenty-four counties in line with the requirement to secure the threshold in half of the counties.

Chebukati who said he had been intimidated and harassed said tow of his commissioners — Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye — were injured. He said Hussein Marjan had also sustained injuries form skirmishes at the National Tallying Center.

“I have a job to do and I will do it,” he said.

The delay was occasioned by a standoff after Azimio Chief Agent Saitabao Ole Kanchory declined to sign the results form citing unverified intelligence reports that the election was compromised.

The Deputy President, who will make history as the first second in command to succeed his boss after an election, campaigned on an economic recovery platform, promising to adopt a bottom-up model which would seek to empower ‘hustlers’ and end the dominance of ‘dynasties’.

Drawing his past as a chicken seller at a railway crossing in Eldoret before joining politics, Ruto presented himself as a hustler who understood Kenya’s most pressing challenges including the high cost of living.

The Deputy President, who will make history as the first second in command to succeed his boss after an election, campaigned on an economic recovery platform, promising to adopt a bottom-up model which would seek to empower ‘hustlers’ and end the dominance of ‘dynasties’.

Drawing his past as a chicken seller at a railway crossing in Eldoret before joining politics, Ruto presented himself as a hustler who understood Kenya’s most pressing challenges including the high cost of living.