Kenya's president-elect, William Samoei Ruto, beat all odds to win the just concluded August 9, 2022, presidential election.
Ruto was announced the winner of the hotly contested race whose outcome was declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday, August 15.
His victory came despite hurdles and attempts to block his foot-soldiers in what appeared as frustrations by the ruling Jubilee government in which he served as the second-in-command.
In July this year, the president-elect exuded confidence in winning the elections with a strong belief that Kenya is a "democratic nation" and that the election will not be tampered with.
"I know there are notions that oh you see if you put the current President and the current leader of the opposition on one side it becomes unassailable. I tell you nothing could be further from the truth. The people of Kenya can cut through that kind of network and still make an informed decision. And I am very confident that I will win this election," Ruto stated.
As democracy would have it, there is always a winner and a loser at the end of every election battle. Asked how he would react if lost the August election, Ruto said the exercise would be peaceful, as it turned out to be, following hours of waiting for the Commission to announce the president-elect.
"And if you look at this contest, there are people from different ethnicities on either side. So we have largely managed to pull away from the usual competition around ethnicities and that kind of thing to a space where," Ruto stated.
Word of God
Ruto has been known as a prayerful man, much of which has been experienced in Sunday services while making monetary donations, something his opponents took issue with.
During church service on Sunday, August 7, the president-elect was confident that he would win the race despite the delays by IEBC. This even as he urged his supporters to vote peacefully, intentionally and deliberately.
"I’m very happy that the exercise of choosing the next leaders for the next five years is underway. Voters go vote peacefully, intentionally and deliberately. I am very confident the people of Kenya will make choices that will take our country to the future," the president-elect stated in the past.
Infiltrated Pollsters
This year's election, as expected, tagged along opinion polls from a myriad of pollsters, among them TIFA which was criticized for carrying out the exercise in favour of the then Ruto's chief rival and Azimio leader, Raila Amollo Odinga.
During the campaigns, the Ruto together with his brigade slammed the pollsters for siding with the government to sponsor cooked polls to hoodwink Kenyans into his opponents' corner.
"This opinion polls you have been funding sch that after the elections you refuse the outcome. I want to tell you that I will get done with you very early in the morning on election day, and there would be no handshake," Ruto said during a campaign rally in Western region.
Too Old to Lead
Ruto shoots from the hip. The president-elect is known for his harsh criticism and takes on political opponents without blinking. In February this year, he sustained his attack against Odinga that he was too old to succeed the outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.
"Those people who want to con us politically by supporting that old man are not doing so because they want him to lead but they want to remain in power using him. They want to deceive us so that they can continue to choose leaders for us. This time around, they will know that they do not know anything," the DP stated.
Deep State Effect
In the run-up to the 2022 General Election, the president-elect maintained that Raila was a state project, sponsored by power brokers, including Uhuru, to succeed their interests.
Uhuru publicly endorsed Raila, rallying Kenyans across the country behind his presidential candidature with Martha Karua.
The former Prime Minister received backing from all quarters, including the Mount Kenya Foundation, a club of the who is who in Central. But Ruto was defiant and bullishly dismissed the support.
William Samoei Ruto will go down in Kenya's history as the first Kenya’s second in command to succeed his boss, through the ballot.
