William Ruto (narrowly) wins presidential election in Kenya with 50.49 percent of the vote, division is great | Abroad

Ruto narrowly beat opposition leader and former prime minister Raila Odinga, the statement said. Odinga, 77, received 48.85 percent or 6,942,930 votes. Ruto thus takes over from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has led the country for more than ten years.

The result was announced by the chairman of the election commission under chaotic circumstances. The Vice-President had recently announced at another location that she and three other senior officials found the count not transparent enough and rejected the result.

After the announcement, Ruto stated that he would work with “all leaders”. He also said there are “no losers” in a bid to ease tensions after the outcome sparked a split in the electoral commission and fears of violence.

Popular with tourists, the country is considered one of the most stable countries on the African continent, with a population of approximately 54 million. However, the elections have been marred by unrest and violence in the past. In 2008, more than 1,000 people died in a wave of post-vote violence. There were also violent incidents in 2013 and 2017. This was mainly due to tensions between the different ethnic groups.

Several challenges await Ruto. Kenya is not only grappling with the effects of the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which has caused food and fuel prices to rise, but is also struggling with the worst drought in 40 years. The extreme drought has left 4.1 million people dependent on food aid and the debt burden has risen.

During his campaign, Ruto pledged to curb debt and spend 500 billion shillings (5.1 billion euros) to help entrepreneurs and farmers and create jobs for millions of unemployed young people. He also wants to give half of the posts in his cabinet to women.

In Kenya, a president can serve two terms. For that reason Kenyatta was not allowed to run for re-election. Ruto took office as Kenyatta’s vice president in 2013, but the two fell out in 2018 after Kenyatta reconciled with Odinga after a long-running feud. Ruto was previously a member of parliament and agriculture minister. Parliamentarian Rigathi Gachagua becomes the new vice president.