Members of the Electoral Commission denounced an “opaque” process before the publication of the final results, which gave victory to outgoing Vice-President William Ruto.
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Even before being announced, the results were disputed. Incumbent Vice President William Ruto was declared the winner of Kenya’s presidential election in the first round with 50.49% of the vote on Monday, August 15, after six days of a count disavowed by the poll monitoring body. .
In his victory speech, William Ruto promised to work with “all leaders” policies. But PEarlier in the day, four of the seven members of Kenya’s Electoral Commission had already announced that they would not accept the final results – although they could not overrule them. “We cannot take responsibility for the results that will be announced”had declared the vice-president of the independent body, denouncing the “opaque character” counting process, while calling on Kenyans to “calm”.
The outgoing vice-president faced Raila Odinga, a historical opponent who was supported by the outgoing president during the August 9 election. Crowds of William Ruto supporters celebrated his victory in his stronghold of Eldoret. DViolence erupted in some popular neighborhoods of the capital Nairobi, particularly in the strongholds of Raila Odinga.
Kenya, a country of 50 million inhabitants, is considered an island of stability in a tormented region. But the results of all the presidential elections since 2002 have been disputed there, and that of 2017 had even been canceled by the Supreme Court, seized at the time by Raila Odinga. The latter had also challenged the results of the 2007 election, before inter-ethnic clashes that left more than 1,100 dead.