Ruto won with 50.49% of the vote, beating veteran opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is running for the fifth time.
He will become Kenya’s fifth President since independence, winning the seat in his first attempt. Ruto’s party, the Kenya First coalition, won a majority of seats in the Kenyan senate, the second highest party in Parliament.
The announcement of the results was delayed more than two hours after the constitutional deadline and the country’s election commission was split, after four officials rejected the results of the commission’s Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Opposition officials held a press conference of their own at another location to dispute the official outcome. IEBC Vice President Juliana Cherera was among those who disagreed with the results but offered no evidence of anomalies.
Earlier on Monday, the coalition of Ruto’s rival Odinga also rejected the election results before they were announced by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission of Kenya (IEBC).
Odinga’s chief representative, Saitabao Kanchory, told the press outside the national election center in Nairobi that they had not yet been able to double-check the final results with their own tally.
“Once we see them we want to verify them, when we verify them we will be able to know and tell the Kenyan people, because a result that cannot be verified is not result.” notification.
The National Census Center quickly descended into chaos shortly after Odinga’s alliance rejected the results, with fighting breaking out and chairs being thrown in the building.
‘It’s not over until it’s over’
Ruto thanked the people of Kenya for choosing him as the country’s next leader in his first speech after being announced as the winner of the election.
“In this election, there are no losers. The people of Kenya won because we raised our political opinion. The people of Kenya are the biggest winners,” he said.
He expressed his “gratitude” to the Kenyan nationals “who refused to be boxed into the tribal cocoon.”
He also thanked his competitor and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, and said: “We focused on the issues and tried to sell an agenda to the Kenyan people throughout the campaign. ”
“It was God who brought us here… my team and I will ensure that the sacrifices of many Kenyans are not in vain… I will run a democratic, transparent, open government. open and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over my administration,” he added.
There was a divisive reaction to the presidential election results in Kenya on Monday night. In Eldoret, live photos from Ruto’s hometown show large crowds celebrating and cheering his victory.
But in Kisumu, the stronghold of Odinga, protests broke out. Live images showed scores of opposition to the election results, tires on fire and smoke billowing through the air.
‘The general manager hustles’
But Ruto’s populist approach, the “man of the people”, rejecting political dynasties and based on anti-elite sentiment in the country, made him popular with voters.
He was able to overcome traditional Kenyan dynastic politics to defeat Odinga, son of Kenya’s first vice president.
During the election campaign, Ruto described himself as a “hustle general manager”, citing his humble beginnings as a chicken seller who fought his way to the top of politics. Kenya.
Political analyst Herman Manyora told CNN ahead of the election that “Ruto got the youth excited … almost a sense of euphoria.”
Ruto, a former teacher with a doctorate in plant ecology at the University of Nairobi, has pledged to prioritize the Kenyan economy and “uplift ordinary citizens” as President.
He will be under pressure to come up with solutions to Kenya’s pressing economic problems, including growing debt, high food and fuel prices, and mass youth unemployment.
Ruto has a long and varied history in Kenyan politics and was also tried alongside President Kenyatta in 2013 at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity following the violence. lethal force in the 2007 election, however, the charges were later dropped.
