President elect William Ruto

The chairman of the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday evening declared UDA presidential aspirant and former Deputy President William Ruto as the president-elect in the just concluded elections.

According to Chebukati, Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes representing 50.49 per cent of the total vote, while his rival, Raila Odinga received  6,942,930, which was 48.85 per cent of the total vote.

Chebukati made the announcement after four of his commissioners led by his deputy Juliana Cherera called a press conference from a separate venue, distancing themselves from the results that were going to be announced on grounds that the final process was handled in an “opaque” manner.

“We are not able to take ownership of the results that will be announced, because of the opaque nature of this last phase of the general election,” she said.

Cherera however urged the parties to pursue any disputes through the courts.

The electoral commission has seven commissioners.

Raila’s chief agent Kanchory Saitabao accused the IEBC and chairman Wafula Chebukati of tampering with election results.

Odinga did not show up at Bomas where the results were being announced, while Ruto was there with his family members including his mother and that was the first tell-tale sign that the results were in favour of the former deputy president.

Ruto, who fell out with President Uhuru Kenyatta in their second term in office, was making his first stub at the presidency in the 2022 general elections.

African Presidents Congratulate Ruto

African Presidents including Nigeria’s Muhammad Buhar, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania) Abiy Ahmed (Ethiopia) have sent their congratulatory messages to president-elect William Ruto.