If there is no legal challenge to the results, Ruto will become Kenya’s fifth president since the independence of the country from the United Kingdom in 1963.
On Monday evening, Wafula Chebukati, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), announced that Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto won the presidential election.
In the elections held on August 9, Ruto obtained 50.49 percent of the votes, while his main opponent, the former prime minister and opposition leader, Raila Odinga, obtained 48.85 percent of the votes. In third and fourth place in the presidential vote were George Wajackoyah and David Mwaure, respectively.
“In accordance with the Constitution and the law, the IEBC president declares that Ruto William Samoei has been duly elected President of the Republic of Kenya,” Chebukati said at the Bomas cultural complex, where the national vote counting center is located.
This announcement was preceded by confusion since four out of seven electoral commissioners, among whom was the IEBC vice president Juliana Cherera, disassociated themselves from the final results because they considered that the count had been carried out in an “opaque” manner.
Ruto, who was sponsored by the Kenya Kwanza coalition, became president of Kenya in his first attempt. Instead, Odinga, a 77-year-old politician sponsored by the Azimio La Umoja coalition, was seeking to be elected for the fifth time to govern this African country.
If there is no legal challenge to the results, Ruto will become Kenya’s fifth president since the independence of the country from the United Kingdom in 1963. The 55-year-old leader will replace Uhuru Kenyatta, who will step down after her second five-year term.
In the August 9 election, 22.1 million registered voters also chose 47 Senators, 290 members of the House of Representatives as well as governors and lawmakers for 47 counties.