William Ruto wins Kenya's presidential elections, amid disputes

•Some election officials disown results


Adeze Ojukwu with agency reports


William Ruto, was on Monday, declared winner of Kenya’s presidential election, defeating his rival Raila Odinga. He vowed to work with ‘all leaders’ in the country. Four election officials disowned the result, saying it count was "opaque.'"

Reuter reports that "Ruto had appeared to be leading long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga as Kenyans awaited final results of the election held nearly a week ago."

"Minutes before the chairman of the electoral commission Wafula Chebukati announced that Ruto had won the vote, his deputy Juliana Cherera had told media at a separate location that she and three other commissioners disowned the results."

"We are not able to take ownership of the results that will be announced," she said.

Diplomats and international elections were whisked out of the tallying hall before Chebukati spoke, as scuffles broke out.

Amid fears that vote-rigging allegations could lead to bloody scenes like those that followed presidential polls in 2007 and 2017, Cherera urged the parties to pursue any disputes through the courts.

According to Sky news, Ruto was declared winner of the election, moments after the main count was interrupted as scuffles broke out.

Mr Ruto is currently the country's deputy president and has beaten opposition leader Raila Odinga to the top job after winning 50.49 percent of the vote.

"I want to thank God for getting us to this point, I want to thank God that today we have concluded this election.

"There were predictions that we wouldn't get here, but because there is a God in heaven we are here, and I want to in a very special way to say, and to confess, that without God we wouldn't have been here."

It is a triumph for Mr Ruto who shook up politics by appealing to struggling Kenyans on economic terms and not on traditional ethnic ones.

Earlier, chairs were thrown, bottles were smashed and a lectern was knocked over as chaos erupted in the main counting hall in Nairobi.

https://twitter.com/OjukwuAdeze/status/1559207979173683203?s=20&t=nWwaI42DGN3dONFPlAn-cQ