Compiled from reports in Nairobi Wire, All Africa and APA News
Kenya’s president-elect William Ruto, 55. took to social media on Monday to welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold his election victory, attributing the decision to God.
Just hours after the seven-judge bench unanimously dismissed a petition from his political rival, Raila Odinga, challenging his win, Ruto quoted Mark 10:27 — “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
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Speaking shortly after he was declared president-elect at the Bomas of Kenya, Ruto, who is the current deputy president and who stood for the United Democratic Alliance, said: “I was prayed to victory.” Reportedly he also led his team in worship later in the day.
Kenya’s last three elections were overshadowed by disputed results that led to court cases and street violence. After Ruto narrowly defeated Odinga in last month’s election, with 50.49% of the votes against his rival’s 48.85%, Azimio candidate and veteran opposition leader Odinga went to the Supreme Court, claiming electoral fraud following his fifth unsuccessful presidential bid.
The Supreme Court dismissed Odinga’s challenge, clearing the way for Ruto to be sworn in as president on September 13.
Clergymen in Kenya have appealed to Ruto to unite the country after a hotly contested and divisive election.
Speaking after holding a meeting following the Supreme Court verdict, the religious leaders urged Ruto to inspire confidence in Kenyans.
Led by chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Archbishop Martin Kivuva, the clergy also praised Kenyans for maintaining peace.
“We thank all Kenyans for the democratic maturity that they have manifested by actively and peacefully participating in this year’s general elections. To the President-elect, be a symbol of national unity and inspire confidence in Kenyans,” Archbishop Kivuva said.
They also commended Odinga “for the great role he has played in in advancing leadership in the country”.
“You have indeed demonstrated strong statesmanship in your calls for the rule of law to be respected and upheld,” they added.
The religious leaders also called on the Judiciary to ensure justice is served in the rest of the election petitions filed by various aspirants.
“We commend the Supreme Court for its decision and we are cognisant of the fact that not all Kenyans were satisfied with the decision. We call upon the rest of the judiciary to prepare and ensure justice is done and is seen to be done in the petitions touching on other electoral positions,” said Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims Chairman Yusuf Abuhamza.
The president of Atheists in Kenya Society, Harrison Mumia, issued a statement congratulating Ruto and the Supreme Court but expressing a hope that Ruto “will promote secularism and freedom of religion” as specified in Kenya’s Constitution and that his government will not discriminate against atheists.
During his campaign, Ruto pledged to rein in corruption, grow Kenya’s struggling economy and reduce the rate of unemployment among young Kenyans.
As a Kalenjin native of Kenya’s Rift Valley, Ruto has known hardship while growing up in his rural village of Sambut, going to school without wearing shoes and feeling the pangs of hunger at night as was the norm for many poor households in the early 1970s.
He later hawked chickens along the Nairobi-Eldoret highway and eventually became a chicken farmer years after he amassed a business fortune which allowed him to purchase a farm in his native village.
The holder of a PhD and Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nairobi went to school at the Kerotet Primary School, before his secondary school education at the Wareng Secondary School and the Kapsabet Boys High School in Nandi County, from where he emerged with both his Ordinary and Advanced level certificates.
He would soon become a political disciple of second president Daniel arap Moi who introduced him to the topsy-turvy nature of Kenyan politics beginning with the election campaigns for the 1992 general elections.
Moi went onto win as the incumbent candidate and appointed Ruto into his cabinet as Home Affairs minister.
Ruto would also occupy ministerial positions in the government of Moi’s successor Mwai Kibaki between 2008 and 2010. He has been deputy president under Uhuru Kenyatta since 2013.
As a teacher and devout church goer, Ruto served as the choirmaster of the church at the University of Nairobi.
Ruto is no stranger to controversy, having been named in a series of corruption and land grab scandals, all of which he denied.
Perhaps the most widely known is the December 2010, summoning of Ruto by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court over an alleged involvement in the post electoral violence which gripped Kenya in the aftermath of the 2007 general elections. The ICC accused him of orchestrating the deadly violence against supporters of President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and subsequently charged with three counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, forcible removal of people from their homes, and persecution.
The case which also included President Uhuru Kenyatta was however abandoned by the ICC.
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