By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Kenyan Supreme Court in a ruling on Monday confirmed William Ruto as the duly elected President of Kenya in a judgment over six Presidential petitions.
Ruto, who is Kenya’s Deputy President, won the country’s disputed last presidential election to be declared President-elect.
He won with 50.49% of the vote, narrowly defeating veteran opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who was contesting his fifth election.
Odinga’s coalition had rejected the election results before they had even been announced by the Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Ruto’s Supreme Court win on Monday puts a permanent seal to his electoral victory and an end to the legal battles that ensued from the presidential polls, metrowatchxtra reports.
He becomes Kenya’s fifth President since independence, winning the seat on his first attempt. Ruto’s party, the Kenya First Coalition, has won a majority of seats in Kenya’s senate, the second highest in the National Assembly.
During his post-victory speech, Ruto said: “It was God that brought us here … my team and I will make sure that the sacrifices made by many Kenyans is not in vain … we will not let them down. I am confident that this country will come together and we can move forward as one democratic nation.”
“I will run a transparent, open, democratic government and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over my administration,” he added.
Earlier, his rival Odinga’s coalition rejected the election results before they had even been announced by Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao Kanchory told the press outside the national election center in Nairobi that they had not yet been able to cross verify the final result with their own tally.
“Once we see them, we want to verify them, when we verify them, we will be able to know and to tell the Kenyan people, because a result that is not verifiable is not a result.” Kanchory told reporters awaiting the results announcement.
The national tallying center briefly descended into chaos shortly after Odinga’s coalition rejected the results, with fighting breaking out and chairs being thrown in the building.
The country’s electoral commission was split, as four officials disowned the commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati’s results, officials said at an earlier press conference.
The IEBC’s vice chair Juliana Cherera was among those disputing the results but provided no evidence of irregularities.
