United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party leader Dr William Kipchirchir Ruto has been announced the presidential election winner.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Wafula Chebukati confirmed Ruto as the president-elect after garnering 7,176,141 votes. This is 50.49 per cent of the total votes cast.
His closest rival Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga got 6,942,930 which is 48.88 per cent of the total votes cast.
A key thing that stood out in these elections was that none of the coalitions commands an absolute majority of 180 members yet with 12 nominated seats still vacant and 4 elections having been postponed.
Odinga’s Azimio la Umjoa has a majority in the National Assembly with 162 members while Ruto's Kenya Kwanza garnered 159 members.
When it comes to the single-party membership, Ruto’s UDA carries the day in the National Assembly with 137 members with Raila’s ODM coming second at 85.
They are followed by Jubilee Party with 28 MPs and Wiper with 24. UDA will therefore get a majority of the 12 nominated MP slots.
Notably, in the Senate, Kenya Kwanza has the Majority at 24 while Azimio comes in second at 22 Senators with one Senator unaffiliated to any of the two coalitions.
The results announced by Chebukati were oppugned by 4 IEBC commissioners who claimed there were divisions during the final phase of the tallying process.
They were led by Vice Chair Juliana Cherera have dissociated themselves from the final tallying stage of the presidential results at the Bomas of Kenya, citing opaqueness.
"The four of us are here and not at Bomas of Kenya where results will be announced because of the opaque nature of this phase has been handled,” Cherera stated.
“We, therefore, cannot take ownership of results that will be announced. However, we have an open door that people can go to court and because of the same, we urge Kenyans to be peaceful because the rule of the law is going to prevail,” she added.
