Ruto sworn in as Kenyan President

William Ruto has been sworn in as Kenya’s new President. The former vice-president under Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto won a narrow victory in a highly disputed electoral victory against Kenyatta-backed candidate Raila Odinga. Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance won 50,5% of the vote, narrowly beating Odinga with 48,8%.

The presidential inauguration brings to a close a protracted dispute about the results of the election. Ruto’s opponent maintained that the election results were rigged. The Supreme Court ruled that the election was free and fair. In a statement, Mr Odinga said he had been invited to the inauguration but declined as he was abroad, and continued to express doubts about the legitimacy of the polls.

Ruto becomes Kenya’s fifth democratically elected president, while the United Democratic Alliance becomes the fifth ruling party after the 38-year rule of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) under Jomo Kenyatta, and then Daniel arap Moi. Ruto’s campaign centered around the promises to tackle the high youth unemployment rate, and presenting himself as an everyman challenger to the political dynasties of the Odingas and the Kenyattas.

Turnout for the election was low by Kenyan standards. In 2013 85,91% of Kenya’s registered voters turned out for the polls. About 60% of the 22.1 million registered voters cast their ballots. Turnout was nearly 80% in the previous election in 2017.

The occasion was marred by at least eight people sustaining injuries as they tried to enter the stadium to witness the inauguration.

Ruto had previously appeared before the International Criminal Court on charges of murder, illegal deportation, and persecution charges following the 2007 Kenyan elections in which 1200 people were killed. The case against the then-deputy president of Kenya was declared a mistrail in 2016 on account of insufficient evidence. The split ruling included a declaration by one justice of a mistrail because of a “troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling.”