Deputy President William Ruto was declared the president-elect, setting in motion the necessary process for the assumption of office.
Ruto defeated Azimio La Umoja's Raila Odinga, Roots Party's George Wajackoyah and Agano Party's Waihiga Mwaure to win the 2022 presidential race.
The win by Ruto who vied on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket was a culmination of a lengthy campaign period in the country. Ruto assembled an array of strategies in the hotly contested campaigns.
He deployed point men in strategic places which aided him to trounce Raila.
Moses Wetangula
Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula has received accolades from various quarters for his role in Kenya Kwanza’s performance. The Ford Kenya Party Leader rallied Bungoma County voters to support Ruto’s bid for the presidency.
Despite the county voting in favour of Ruto’s main opponent in the past, Ruto garnered the majority of votes in the county with 255,906 votes while his rival Raila Odinga got 145, 280 votes.
The votes Ruto garnered in the county were the highest from the entire western region hence proving the vital role Wetangula played.
In addition to the votes garnered by Ruto, Wetangula’s party also won both the governor and senator of Bungoma county.
Wetangula successfully defended his senate seat after garnering 286,143 votes while former Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka clinched the gubernatorial seat in the August 9 polls.
Further, Ford Kenya won parliamentary seats in Tongaren, Kanduyi, Webuye East, and Kanduyi constituencies hence increasing Kenya Kwanza’s stake in the National Assembly.
Ezekiel Machogu
The former Nyaribari Masaba MP was among the footsoldiers who led Ruto’s campaigns in the South Nyanza counties of Nyamira and Kisii.
Despite losing his gubernatorial bid, Machogu and his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) compatriots delivered a basket with 135,326 votes from Kisii County.
The neighbouring Nyamira County also delivered 78,356 votes to bolster Ruto’s much-needed numbers in the election.
Other leaders who led charges for Ruto’s campaigns in the region include outgoing Deputy Governor Joash Maangi and South Mugirango MP-elect Sylvanus Osoro. UDA also bagged the Nyaribari Chache, Bmachoge Burabu, and Kitutu Chache North parliamentary seats from Kisii County.
Mohammed Ali
Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga has enjoyed massive support from Mombasa County in the past general elections.
Raila has established dominance in coast politics since the famous2007 pentagon when Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala led ODM charges in Mombasa.
However, Ruto gained 113,700 votes which accounts for 41 per cent of the votes in the county. In addition, Nyali MP Mohammed Ali alias Jicho Pevu defended his seat on a UDA ticket hence increasing UDA’s numbers in parliament.
Rigathi Gachagua
Deputy President-elect Rigathi Gachagua is also among the leaders who played a pivotal role in the run-up to Kenya Kwanza’s win.
After the fallout with President Uhuru Kenyatta, the promise to have Ruto as the preferred successor was taken back.
Uhuru instead supported his rival Raila Odinga hence risking to deprive Ruto of the support of the vote-rich region.
However, with the entry of Gachagua as DP Ruto’s running mate- Kenya Kwanza managed to consolidate the robust support from the vote-rich region.
In total, Ruto garnered 2.9 million votes from the 10 Mount Kenya region counties. The outgoing Deputy President received over 80% votes from Murang’a, Nyeri, and Kirinyaga counties.
In addition, Ruto’s UDA bagged the majority seats in the 10 counties, overshadowing President Uhuru-led Jubilee party which formerly dominated Mount Kenya politics.