Ruto received with 50.49% of the vote, narrowly defeating veteran opposition chief and previous Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who used to be contesting his 5th election.
He will grow to be Kenya’s 5th President since independence, successful the seat on his first strive. Ruto’s birthday party, the Kenya First coalition, has received a majority of seats in Kenya’s senate, the second one absolute best within the National Assembly.
The effects announcement used to be behind schedule for greater than two hours previous the constitutional closing date and the rustic’s electoral fee used to be cut up, after 4 officers disowned the fee’s chairman Wafula Chebukati’s effects.
The opposing officers staged a press convention of their very own at any other venue disputing the professional effects. The IEBC’s vice chair Juliana Cherera used to be amongst those that disagreed with the effects however supplied no proof of irregularities.
Earlier Monday, Ruto’s rival Odinga’s coalition additionally rejected the election effects ahead of they’d even been introduced by way of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Odinga’s leader agent Saitabao Kanchory informed the click out of doors the nationwide election middle in Nairobi that they’d no longer but been ready to go test the general consequence with their very 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.
‘It’s not over till it’s over’
Ruto thanked the people of Kenya for voting him as the next leader of the country in his first speech after being announced the winner of the election.
“In this election, there are not any losers. The humans of Kenya have received as a result of we have now raised the political bar. The humans of Kenya are the largest winners,” he said
He expressed his “gratitude” to Kenyan citizens “who refused to be boxed into tribal cocoons.”
He additionally thanked his competitor and veteran opposition chief Raila Odinga, and stated: “We dwelled on problems and attempted to promote an schedule to the folks of Kenya throughout the marketing campaign.”
“It used to be God that introduced us right here … my workforce and I can be sure that the sacrifices made by way of many Kenyans isn’t in useless …I can run a clear, open, democratic executive and I can paintings with the opposition to the level that they supply oversight over my management,” he added.
There was a divided response to the presidential election results in Kenya on Monday evening. In Eldoret, live pictures from Ruto’s hometown showed large crowds celebrating and cheering his win.
But in Kisumu, Odinga’s stronghold, protests erupted. Live images showed scores protesting the election results, tires on fire and smoke billowing in the air.
The ‘hustler-in-chief’
But Ruto’s populist “man-of-the-people” approach, which rejected political dynasties and played on anti-elite sentiment in the country, endeared him to voters.
He was able to transcend Kenya’s traditionally dynastic politics to beat Odinga, the son of Kenya’s first vice president.
During the marketing campaign, Ruto described himself because the “hustler-in-chief,” citing his humble beginnings as a chicken seller who fought his way up to the top of Kenyan politics.
Political analyst Herman Manyora told CNN ahead of the election that “Ruto has excited the youths … nearly in a euphoric sense.”
Ruto, a former teacher who holds a doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Nairobi, has pledged to prioritize Kenya’s economy and “uplift abnormal voters” as President.
He will come under pressure to provide 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 deadly violence in the 2007 elections. However, the charges were later thrown out.
