Dr William Samoei Ruto has been declared the 5th President of Kenya. Kenya’s Supreme Court has ruled against candidate Raila Odinga’s challenge to the outcome of last month’s presidential election.
Odinga had alleged electoral fraud after his opponent William Ruto was declared the winner.
William Ruto was on 15th August 2022 declared the winner of the closely-fought presidential election with 50.49% of the vote after a long wait that put the nation on edge.
Wafula W. Chebukati, the chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had announced about an hour after the election commission’s deputy chairperson and three other commissioners disowned the presidential election results.
The Deputy President defeated five-time contender Raila Odinga. Ruto’s campaign focus was based on appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not on traditional ethnic issues.
But chaos emerged just before the declaration when the electoral commission’s vice chairman and three other commissioners told journalists they could not support the “opaque nature” of the final phase.
“We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced,” vice chairman Juliana Cherera said. At the declaration venue, police surged to impose calm amid shouting.
The sudden split in the commission came minutes after Odinga’s chief agent said they could not verify the results and made allegations of “electoral offences” without giving details or evidence. Odinga didn’t come to the venue for the declaration.