Status: 08/15/2022 7:47 p.m
The previous vice president of Kenya is the new head of state: William Ruto narrowly won the presidential election in Kenya. There was a commotion when members of the electoral commission described the final phase of the count as “opaque”.
In East African Kenya, former Vice President William Ruto has been elected the new head of state. The 55-year-old won the vote with 50.49 percent, said Electoral Commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Ruto emerged victorious by a narrow margin over longtime opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. According to the election commission, 77-year-old Odinga received 48.85 percent. He has seven days to lodge an objection. At around 64 percent, turnout was well below the 80 percent of the last election five years ago.
The winner of the election will succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, who led the country for more than ten years and was not allowed to stand again. After extensive spending on infrastructure projects, outgoing President Kenyatta is leaving behind an over-indebted state. He also failed to get the widespread corruption under control.
Ruto, who comes from a modest background, had presented himself as a man of the masses who had worked his way up. In addition to helping the poorest, he promised, among other things, minimum prices for agricultural products, subsidies for fertilizers and support for the establishment of micro-enterprises.
Injured in riots in the voting center
Shortly before, there had been confusion about how to proceed after a rift within the election commission. Four of its seven members, including the vice-president of the electoral commission, said at a press conference that the last phase of the count was “opaque” – and that they could not support it.
Riots then broke out in the voting center. Diplomats and international observers were ejected from the building where the votes were being counted. The police stepped in to calm the situation. Two members of the election commission were injured, the police said afterwards.
Kenyan police intervene after officers at the Independent Electoral Commission went into chaos.
Image: AFP
In preliminary statements, the election observers of the European Union and the African Union, as well as various other delegations, praised the electoral commission for an overall smooth election despite isolated problems with the digital identification of the voters in some polling stations. Whether the election was fair and free can only be judged after the results have been announced.
choice as a mood test
Kenya is in a difficult economic situation. The population is suffering from the economic consequences of the corona pandemic and the drastic price increases of recent months. The reasons for this are the consequences of the war in Ukraine, but also tax increases by the government, which is looking for new sources of income because of the debt crisis.
The election was thus seen as an important test of the stability of East Africa’s largest economy, after two of the last three elections had been overshadowed by violence following disputes over allegations of manipulation.
In 2008 more than 1000 people died due to a wave of violence following the voting. Violent incidents also occurred in 2013 and 2017. The main reason was tensions between the different ethnic groups. Before this vote, both Ruto and Odinga had declared that they would not contest the election in the event of a defeat.