Published on: 08/15/2022 – 17:22 Modified on: 08/15/2022 – 17:24
The head of Kenya’s Electoral Commission, Wafula Chebukati, declared William Ruto the winner of the presidential elections this Monday, August 15 in Nairobi with 50.49% of the vote, despite the rejection of the results by four of the seven members of the body he chairs, including his Vice-President, who took the floor.
After six days of waiting for the results, is this the beginning of a political crisis? With just over seven million votes, outgoing Kenyan Vice-President William Ruto beat his opponent Raila Odinga, a historic figure in the opposition who had received the support of the outgoing head of state, by 233,211 votes, but only won 48.85% of the vote, said the president of the electoral commission.
The ambitious Mr. Ruto, 55, will become the first Kalenjin on paper to be elected to power in twenty years, succeeding two presidents of the Kikuyu community, including the outgoing Mr. Kenyatta. He had been campaigning for several years, seemingly sidelined by an unexpected alliance between his president and his historic opponent.
The newly crowned winner, William Ruto, promised in a speech to work with “all political leaders” in Kenya in a “transparent, open and democratic” country. “There is no place for revenge,” he added, stating he is “fully aware” that the country is “at a stage where we need everyone on deck”.
In that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, declare his name; will make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted” (Isaiah 12:4). pic.twitter.com/MI7tfxrsji
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) August 15, 2022
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However, shortly before they were actually announced, those results were rejected by a majority of members of said Electoral Commission – four out of seven commissioners – including Vice President Juliana Cherera, who said from a Nairobi hotel that she could because of the “opaque nature of the process”. not “take responsibility for the results to be announced” while urging Kenyans to “calm down”.
Juliana Cherera, Vice-President of the Electoral Commission (IEBC)
People can go to court and this is why we call on Kenyans to be peaceful because the rule of law will prevail.
A country that is politically less stable than it seems
The August 9 presidential election was held generally quietly, without Uhuru Kenyatta, who had been in power since 2013 and lacked the right to run for a third term. If there is a good successor, his previous vice-candidate, William Samoei Ruto, will become the fifth head of state. Since 2002, all Kenyan presidential elections have been held in the streets or in court. In the past, post-election violence has sometimes been the subject of bloodshed.
Out of William Ruto’s most important campaign promises : Lowering the cost of groceries in the face of runaway inflation. Another pledge from the former Vice President: make employment a priority, especially for young people. “We will develop our textile industry, copper and timber to create enough job opportunities,” he said in Nyeri earlier this month.
The president of the electoral commission had tried to make his announcement for the first time on Monday, but was prevented from doing so, which led to skirmishes on live television on the official platform of the result-gathering centers. And that, reports our correspondent in the Kenyan capital, Florence Moricewhile the choir, which had been waiting for the audience since morning, continued to sing to soothe the mood.
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