Protests As Ruto Declared Winner Of Disputed Kenya Vote

Nairobi, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Aug, 2022 ) :William Ruto was declared the winner of Kenya's close-fought presidential poll on a day of high drama Monday, with violent protests in his defeated rival's strongholds, claims of rigging and a split in the commission that oversaw the vote.

As tensions ran high after his narrow victory in the August 9 race against Raila Odinga, the 55-year-old president-elect vowed to work with "all leaders".

"There is no room for vengeance," the incumbent deputy president said. "I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck." The dispute will test Kenya's stability after previous elections in the East African political and economic powerhouse were blighted by claims of rigging and vicious bouts of deadly violence.

Ruto secured 50.49 percent of the vote in his first-ever attempt at the presidency, just ahead of Odinga on 48.85 percent, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission head Wafula Chebukati said after an anxious days-long wait for results.

Ruto will succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta, 60, the son of Kenya's first post-independence leader, who has served two terms and under the constitution was not allowed to run again.

- 'Shambolic' election But it was yet another bruising defeat for 77-year-old Odinga, the veteran opposition leader who had hoped it would be fifth time lucky as he had the support of former foe Kenyatta and the weight of the ruling party machinery behind him.

Odinga was nowhere to be seen on Monday, but his party agent had earlier described the election as "shambolic", saying it had been marred by irregularities and mismanagement.

"It is not over till it is over," Odinga's running mate Martha Karua said on Twitter.

Chaos erupted at the IEBC's national tallying centre in Nairobi before the results were announced, with chairs hurled and scuffles between party rivals.

Four of the IEBC's seven commissioners, who some analysts said were allied with Kenyatta, disowned the results, saying the process was "opaque" but without providing further details.

Odinga has accused his opponents of cheating him out of victory in the 2007, 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, and analysts say it is likely he will appeal to the Supreme Court over this year's results.

In Odinga's lakeside stronghold of Kisumu, angry supporters took to the streets, hurling stones, setting fire to tyres and building roadblocks.

"We were cheated," Isaac Onyango, 24, said on a street sealed off by two large bonfires and broken rock.

"The government must listen to us. They must redo the election. Raila Odinga must be president. We will keep protesting until the Kenyan Supreme Court listens to us." -