President-Elect of Kenya and incumbent Deputy President, William Ruto says his victory in the keenly contested presidential election belongs to all Kenyans.
In an address shortly after he was declared winner, Ruto said
“the people of Kenya had bought into his vision for the east African nation.
He did not get the support of his boss, as President Uhuru Kenyatta threw his weight behind veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga for the top job.
But despite the challenge, the 55-year old who started politics straight out of university in 1990, has finally got to the pinnacle of his political career.
He had been elected member of parliament on a number of occasions, and was once one of the youngest cabinet ministers, and had also sought the presidency, but finished third in his coalition party, the Orange Democratic Movement’s primary won by Odinga in 2007.
The post-election violence of 2007 eventually saw him appear before the International Criminal Court, ICC at the Hague.
The charges were later withdrawn, and he remained as running mate when Kenyatta won a controversial second term in 2017. That result was by the Supreme Court, though the opposition boycotted the re-run.
It was during his second term as Deputy President that he obtained a doctorate after almost seven years on the programme.
Ruto who is still the incumbent Deputy President sure has a lot of reaching out and fence-mending to do, as the opposition has cried foul, in a politically-polarised nation facing serious economic difficulties.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
