Deputy President William Ruto was announced as the winner of Kenya’s presidential election, which took place under stressful circumstances.
According to the conclusions of the official election, he prevailed over his competitor Raila Odinga by a margin of barely 0.5% of the vote.
The declaration was held up because of disagreements and allegations of vote fraud brought up by Mr. Odinga’s team.
Because, according to four of the seven members of the electoral commission, the result was “opaque,” they decided against certifying it.
A statement made by Juliana Cherera, the deputy chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, in which she declared that “We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be revealed,” was made because of the opaque nature of the last stage of the general election (IEBC).
She proceeded by saying that they will make a comprehensive statement and that they would ask Kenyans one more time to keep their calm.
The election was reportedly affected by “irregularities” and “mismanagement,” as stated by an official of Mr. Odinga’s party.
Mr. Ruto, who was 55 years old at the time, was making his maiden bid for the presidency. After 10 years in that post, he eventually lost the support of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who favored Mr. Odinga to replace him as the next leader of the country.
The five-time presidential candidate, who is now 77 years old and previously served as prime minister, garnered 48.8 percent of the vote.
The head of the election commission, Wafula Chebukati, said that he had fulfilled his responsibilities despite the fact that he had been threatened.
“We have started down the road toward ensuring that Kenyans will have legitimate elections that are also free and fair. The journey has not been an easy one; at the moment, the Chief Executive Officer and two of my commissioners are injured “he noted.
During his acceptance address, President-elect Ruto gave praise to the Electoral Commission for their work in organizing the election.
According to Mr. Ruto, who referred to Mr. Chebukati as a “hero” and referred to the complaints that the other commissioners had to his triumph as “a sideshow,” the people of Kenya are the only owners of the sovereign authority in Kenya.
Mr. Ruto has claimed that he aspires to hold the office of president so that he may serve all people and lead the country into the future. “I want to tell those who have perpetrated several crimes against us that there is no need for them to be concerned about anything. There won’t be any kind of payback for this.
The luxury of looking back is not available to us “He continued. Celebrations have already begun in certain parts of the country, notably Mr. Ruto’s home territory in the Rift Valley and the home territory of his deputy Rigathi Gachagua in the Central portion of the country.
Supporters of Mr. Odinga have orchestrated demonstrations in a number of neighborhoods around Nairobi as well as in Kisumu, a city located in western Kenya.
On the other hand, there is a widespread sense of relief that the results have been made public since the country had been brought to a stop ever since election day on August 9; in addition, all economic activity had come to a halt, and schools remained shuttered.
The history of contentious elections in Kenya has always ended in either the spilling of blood or the nullification of the whole electoral process.
After the election in 2007, there were suspicions that the election had been stolen, which led to at least 1,200 fatalities and caused 600,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Story By Ernest Asamoah