President-elect William Ruto told CNN that the violence witnessed after the 2007 General Election was a slip.
Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday, September 7, Ruto noted that it was the lowest the country had sunk during an election and dreaded a repeat of the same.
He stated that the relative peace in the subsequent elections in 2013 and 2017 and the total calm witnessed after the August 9 poll was an evidence of political maturity of Kenyans.
"What has happened in the past was a slip and we have gained our balance and I am very confident that going into the future, the next election will be better than the one we have had this year," the president-elect reckoned.
The incoming Head of State pointed out that he was dejected by the association of Kenya to skirmishes whenever the country goes to an election. He opined that the citizenry have set precedence on election conduct across Africa.
"No citizen, no leader wants their county to be famous for violence.
"As the people of Kenya, we have raised the standards in our continent and even for ourselves that we can go to an election, decide who our leaders are and go to work on the next day. I am proud of it, Kenyans are proud of it," Ruto stated.
Responding to questions by Amanpour on how he intended to unite the country, given he won by a small margin, Ruto affirmed that he engaged to his main competitor, Azimio flagbearer Raila Odinga on how to run an inclusive government.
"Part of the challenges of leadership is reaching out across the aisle and building alliances and networks that would help bringing the country together.
"I have already reached out to my competitor to agree on a mechanism that will ensure both the govt and those providing oversight will do their work so that the people of Kenya can reap the benefits," the outgoing DP affirmed.
In the build-up, during and after the election, a number of countries led by the United States issued advisories to their citizens, asking them to shun parts of or the entire country.
Save for the fracas that rocked the tallying process at the Bomas of Kenya, calm was witnessed across the country after the election results and the judgement on the election by the Supreme Court was delivered.
