VP Ruto wins Kenya’s presidential election
Kenya’s incumbent Vice President, William Ruto has been declared the winner of the just concluded presidential election in the East African country.
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The declaration of Ruto as President-Elect was made by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after a nearly 6-day tallying exercise at the National Tallying Center at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi.
Mr Ruto polled 50.49 per cent of the total votes cast ( 7,176,141) to defeat his closest challenger, ex-Prime Minister Raila Odinga who polled 48.85 per cent ( 6,942,930) of votes cast. Mr Ruto also achieved the minimum 25 per cent of votes in 39 counties.
Odinga, a veteran opposition leader, was making his fifth stab with the backing of the ruling Jubilee Party led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Of the 47 counties, the leader of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance garnered over 25 per cent of the vote in 39 counties.
IEBC Chairperson Wafula Chebukati, who addressed the nation at 6 pm, three hours after an earlier slated time, said Ruto also garnered 25 per cent of votes in twenty-four counties in line with the requirement to secure the threshold in half of the counties.
Chebukati who said he had been intimidated and harassed said two of his commissioners Boya Molu and Abdi Guliye were injured. He said Hussein Marjan had also sustained injuries from skirmishes at the National Tallying Center.
“I have a job to do and I will do it,” he said.
An hour after Kanchory’s announcement four IEBC commissioners led by Vice Chairperson Juliana Cherera convened a press conference and said they could not endorse the results verification process describing it as ‘opaque’.
“We’re here because of the opaque nature of how this phase has been handled and we cannot take ownership of the results that will be announced,” Cherera stated flanked by Commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Cherop and Justus Abonyo.
MTO/Afrika Eyes
