Elections were tense in Kenya as the country was divided in its votes for the two candidates, William Ruto and Raila Odinga. On August 15 the results came out that Ruto won with 50.49% of the votes.
For a competitive race with only 1.7% vote difference between them, it was refreshing to have a peaceful election where ethnicity was not at the center. After dignified campaigns Odinga is to be commended that he brought the results to the supreme courts rather than the streets, much to the relief of many Kenyans. The judiciary is very trusted now and many trust in the courts to resolve the problem whereas in the 2007 elections where there was very little confidence in the court, leading to violence.
Ruto, the new president-elect, comes from a poor background from a minority ethnic group. He forged a career on his speaking and mobilizing skills, and he was the main ally of Kenyatta during his presidency. Ruto took on economic terms focusing on equality and economics and it will be interesting to see if his good qualities and political talent help him into becoming more progressive. By calling himself a “hustler” and wanting to lower the unemployment rate, Ruto appeals more to the struggling youth of the nation. His story built support and struck a cord especially with the Kikuyu people in the Mount Kenya region. After the election, Ruto promised to reunite the country as it has been divided in two between voting for him or Odinga. Kenya is a complex, strong, and open society in which Ruto won against all odds, raising immense expectations. It will be interesting to see what he will do next.
Kenyans in Eldoret reading coverage of the vote.
Odinga has lost 4 previous elections where he tried to run for president, and voters in the ethnic group of western Kenya, the Luo people, of which he is a part of, say they have been excluded from presidency since independence. Although it is problematic that all leaders have only come from two groups, there is still hope that the pattern could be broken. Odinga has gone to court in past elections and it is almost certain he will do that with this one as well.
According to NY Times the voting was “broadly accurate,” as the voting and election was one of the most expensive elections in the world. The Kenyan government tried their hardest to prevent violence from occurring as had happened in past elections, specifically the 2007 one in the aftermath of Kibaki being inaugurated where Ruto and Kenyatta were charged with crimes against humanity in it. They spent a lot of money on voting so that results could be as fair as possible and to ensure a peaceful election.
Results were posted online, the first time where the public could follow along, becoming one of the most transparent counts in Kenya’s voting history. Everyone could follow the local voting station tallies in real time and anyone with a calculator could add up the votes themselves. Media outlets were doing this and providing real time updates confirming the status of the voting results from each of the local voting stations. It was one of the most secure elections, on a global standard. Four of the seven electorate rejected the results without evidence or explanation, calling it an election of an “opaque nature.” But they had been nominated by Kenyatta, former president of Kenya, who campaigned for Odinga. Overall this year’s elections have been widely democratic and stable, even with an uneasy calm after the results, the majority is satisfied with Odinga bringing the results to court.
On the left, people celebrating Ruto’s election. On the right, rocks are set as barricades for protests.
An interesting thing about Kenyan politics is that there aren’t formed sides such as Democrat or Republican like the US has. Instead, groups and allies change regularly and whoever was an enemy yesterday could be a friend today. It all depends on people trying to get where they want in the political structure. This happened with Kenyatta and Odinga as Odinga had run against Kenyatta in the last election and the two were rivals. But this changed with the elections of this year where the two teamed up to go against Ruto. Surprisingly though, a lot of Kenyatta’s own people voted for Ruto, abandoning their ethnic leader and allowing Ruto to win by a landslide in one of the larger group voting blocs of Kenya.
It is starting to be realized that the presidency is not “a life or death matter,” as Murithi Mutiga says in The Horn podcast. Kenya learned from the mistakes in 2017 and have been instituting trustworthy processes of reform. Democracy in Kenya has been stable overall, with presidents respecting the convention of two terms in office since the beginning of multi-party elections; as well as in the last election where the independence of the courts and active media were demonstrated when the Supreme Court annulled the results and made them re-run the election. Overall this election has allowed a hopeful progress of “no choice but democracy.”
As for who would be a better candidate, obviously there are lots of different opinions. A lot of African countries follow these elections closely because Kenya as a country has been relatively democratic and stable and is a positive example for all of East Africa as a force of good in the region. The Kenyan government has become a sign of stability, and the rest of the world watches to see if they can continue being a democracy and moving away from ethnic divisions, which is the struggle in many of Kenya’s neighboring countries.
Sources:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-horn/id1481350176?i=1000576491670
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/world/africa/kenya-election-results.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/world/africa/william-ruto-profile-kenya.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kenya-william-ruto-declared-president-election-raila-odinga-protests/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/16/kenyan-observer-group-says-its-projections-tally-official-results (Image credits)
https://espresso.economist.com/f2fe4479d8861f09946a28965a67d4