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Tag Archives: Kenya
Edwin Chiloba: Suspect arrested after prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist reportedly found dead
Reuters
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Kenyan police on Friday said a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner whose body was found stuffed into a metal box in the west of the country.
Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources.
Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.
Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years.
The death drew condemnation from several human rights groups, including the International Commission of Jurists Kenya section, which called for the speedy investigation and apprehension of those behind his killing.
“Chiloba’s death is a tragedy and an affront to human dignity and violation of the right to life #JusticeForChiloba,” it said on Twitter.
Resila Onyango, Kenya National Police Service’s spokesperson, said officers had arrested one person in connection with Chiloba’s death.
“Police arrested one male suspect in Eldoret on Friday. He is the main suspect but the matter is still under investigation,” she said in a text message to Reuters.
“Words cannot even explain how we as a community are feeling right now. Edwin Chiloba was a fighter, fighting relentlessly to change the hearts and minds of society when it came to LGBTQ+ lives,” GALCK, a Kenyan gay rights group, said on Twitter.
Under a British colonial-era law, gay sex in Kenya is punishable by 14 years in prison. It is rarely enforced but discrimination is common.
Elephant in Kenya interrupts reporter Alvin Kaunda in viral video
Clips of the moment started to circulate online over the weekend and have since racked up millions of views — skyrocketing Kaunda and the curious young elephant to viral fame. The brief interaction between reporter and subject delighted viewers and left many in awe of Kaunda’s ability to maintain his composure for as long as he did. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a nonprofit that runs the orphanage, identified the elephant as Kindani, a 4-year-old female who was rescued in April 2018.
“Baby elephant disrupting a TV reporter is the best part of today,” tweeted one Twitter user, who shared a video of the exchange that has been watched more than 11.8 million times as of Wednesday.
For Kaunda, it all started as just another day on the job.
The Kenya Broadcasting Corp. reporter was on assignment at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage, according to Kenyans.co.ke. Kenya has been battling its worst drought in four decades, and local officials say the extreme weather is killing 20 times as many elephants as poaching. A recent report released by the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife revealed that more than a thousand animals have died as a result of the drought, including wildebeests, zebras, elephants and buffaloes.
Kaunda told a local Kenyan radio station that he knew he wanted to set up a shot at the orphanage where he would be speaking in front of the elephants. But he was struggling to get through his report and had already attempted 10 takes — all of which were unsuccessful.
“I’d kept my distance, but I was so focused and didn’t even realize they were getting close,” he said.
At the start of what would become the viral moment, Kaunda, clad in a T-shirt and a red and navy jacket, can be seen standing among several reddish-brown elephants gripping a microphone bearing the KBC logo in his hand. In the background, Kindani has her trunk draped over the back of one of the other elephants.
“Here we go,” says a faint voice off camera.
With a quick inhale, Kaunda focuses his gaze into the camera and begins.
“It is said charity begins at home,” Kaunda says, his expression serious, “and for these young orphaned elephants, this charitable foundation is what they call home.”
He briefly looks away from the camera when one of the elephants appears to nudge the side of his body with its head, but he doesn’t falter. Instead, he places a gentle hand on top of the elephant’s head and forges on, seemingly determined to get a usable take.
Kindani, though, now directly behind him, appears to have other plans.
“And with the rising drought cases, it is up to us to be guardians of our own natural world,” Kaunda says, ignoring the probing elephant trunk doing a close examination of his ear. It moves on to the top of his head before inching down toward the center of his face, forcing Kaunda to close his eyes as he valiantly continues talking.
But when Kindani’s trunk starts groping around his nose and mouth, the reporter gives up. Letting out a high-pitched giggle, he squirms, drawing laughter from off camera while the elephant swiftly pulls back her trunk.
On social media, the interaction, which lasted less than a minute, was soon captivating people around the world.
“Most of us would have lost our professionalism far sooner!” the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust tweeted. “An important piece pertaining to the drought, but our orphans just saw a visitor to investigate!”
Kindani “knows exactly what she’s plotting to do,” the organization added in another tweet, responding to a Twitter user who pointed out the elephant’s eyes just moments before she approached Kaunda. “The side eye is often a precursor to cheeky behaviour.”
Pitted against the willful elephant, many viewers were impressed by Kaunda’s resolve.
“I’m amazed at how long this reporter was able to keep his composure,” one person tweeted. “I would’ve started laughing at the first touch.”
Another Twitter user applauded the journalist for his “amazing professional control.”
“The reporter stayed the course until it was no longer possible to do so,” the person wrote. “I’m glad he laughed at the end, did my heart good.”
In the interview with the Kenyan radio station, Kaunda described the trunk as “ticklish,” saying, “[I] just tried to keep my cool.”
“It actually didn’t have any smell,” he said. “I’m sure if it had a foul smell it would have really distracted me. It wasn’t normal, but I liked the experience.”
Kaunda, who calls himself as a “wildlife enthusiast,” said he hopes to experience more of these encounters, adding that he has a goal of “getting close” to several species of animals. “So far only two are left; the lion and the leopard.”
Kenya deploys troops to Congo to help end decades of bloodshed
NAIROBI, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Kenya’s President William Ruto on Wednesday officially deployed troops to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to join an East African regional force aiming to end decades of bloodshed.
The seven countries of the East African Community (EAC), which Congo joined this year, agreed in April to set up a joint force to fight militia groups in Congo’s east. The Kenyan troops will join a contingent from Burundi.
Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the United Nation’s largest peacekeeping forces, more than 120 armed groups continue to operate across large swathes of east Congo, including the M23 rebels, which Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting. Kigali denies the claims.
Uganda has already sent troops into Congo as part of separate deployment to chase down an Islamic State-linked armed militants, one of the warring groups in eastern Congo.
“We all have a stake in a stable Democratic Republic of Congo and its security,” Ruto said at a send-off ceremony for the troops in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
[1/2] A member of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) reacts after the flag presentation of the troops under the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF), ahead of their deployment to the Peace and Security mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at the Embakasi garrison in Nairobi, Kenya November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
Ruto said the United Nations and African Union had given “tacit” backing to the Kenyan deployment.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Reuters Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was not a mandating authority, and that decisions on whether or not to finance such missions were out of his purview.
A U.N. source told Reuters there has been some uncertainty around Kenya’s deployment because Nairobi wanted international funding, which requires an official mandate from the U.N. Security Council or the African Union.
“We have been working very hard to mobilise the international community to support the east African force,” Kenyan Defence Minister Aden Duale said at the event.
On Wednesday morning several thousand people held a demonstration in the city of Bukavu, eastern Congo, against the regional force because, they said, some of their “enemies” are member countries of the East African Community.
Reporting by Edwin Waita, Hereward Holland, and Mukelwa Hlatshwayo; Additional reporting by Crispin Kyalangalilwa; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by James Macharia Chege, William Maclean and Sandra Maler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Arshad Sharif: Prominent Pakistani journalist killed in Kenya
Nairobi
CNN Business
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Arshad Sharif, a prominent Pakistani journalist who fled the country after he was charged with sedition, has died in Kenya after he was shot by police responding to reports of a stolen vehicle, authorities said.
“The officers trailing the motor vehicle … alerted police in Magadi who erected a road barrier,” Bruno Isohi Shioso, a spokesperson for Kenya’s National Police Service, said in a statement.
Sharif’s car allegedly drove through the road barrier and “it is then that they were shot at,” Shioso said. Sharif was “fatally wounded by a police officer,” he said, adding that the incident was being investigated.
According to a police report seen by Kenyan national news outlet The Nation, the roadblock had been set up after reports of a kidnapping that involved a car bearing a similar license plate number to that of Sharif’s.
Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), a civilian watchdog organization, said it has already started investigating the incident.
“I lost friend, husband and my favourite journalist @arsched today, as per police he was shot in Kenya,” Sharif’s wife, Javeria Siddique, tweeted Monday.
Sharif fled Pakistan in August due to sedition charges leveled against him for allegedly criticizing state institutions and “abetting mutiny” within the military.
He had interviewed opposition politician Shahbaz Gill, a close ally of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Following the interview, Gill was also charged with sedition by the Pakistani police for making what they claim were “anti-state comments.”
Sharif’s channel ARY initially claimed that it was “being hounded by the present regime,” but then said it had cut ties with Sharif after it was taken off air for about a month on August 8 by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
Sharif had to “flee Pakistan in August to save his life,” a close associate of his told CNN. He had initially gone to Dubai but was forced to flee from the UAE due to “harassment by Pakistani officials,” the associate added.
Sharif had “only been in Kenya for a few weeks since that is one of the few places Pakistani passport holders don’t need a visa for entry,” the associate said.
Pakistan’s embassy officials in Nairobi are waiting for a the police report, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Though not technically under military rule today, Pakistan has been ruled by the military for much of its 75-year history.
The Foreign Press Association, Africa (FPA Africa) said it is “deeply disturbed” by Sharif’s killing, especially the circumstances in which he died.
“Sharif’s death has robbed the media fraternity globally of a dedicated and forthright journalist,” FPA Africa said in a statement.
The association added that it is calling on authorities in Kenya to investigate the incident and thereby assure “foreign journalists based in the country and covering Africa, including those who visit on assignment and other professional undertakings that they’re safe.”
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan tweeted on Monday that “a long, grim record of violent tactics to silence journalists explain why the reported murder of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya has sent shock waves through the journalist community.”
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted that he was “deeply saddened by the shocking news” of Sharif’s death. Shehbaz also said he had a phone conversation with Kenyan President William Ruto and “I requested him to ensure fair & transparent investigation into shocking incident. He promised all-out help including fast-tracking the process of return of the body” to Pakistan.
Cloud of colonialism hangs over Queen Elizabeth’s legacy in Africa
Lagos, Nigeria
CNN
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The death of Queen Elizabeth II has prompted an outpouring of reflection and reaction online. But not all was grief – some young Africans instead are sharing images and stories of their own elders, who endured a brutal period of British colonial history during the Queen’s long reign.
“I cannot mourn,” one wrote on Twitter, posting an image of what she said was her grandmother’s “movement pass” – a colonial document which prevented free travel for Kenyans under British rule in the east African country.
Another wrote that her grandmother “used to narrate to us how they were beaten & how their husbands were taken away from them & left to look after their kids,” during colonial times. “May we never forget them. They are our heroes,” she added.
Their refusal to mourn highlights the complexity of the legacy of the Queen, who despite widespread popularity was also seen as a symbol of oppression in parts of the world where the British Empire once extended.
Kenya, which had been under British rule since 1895, was named an official colony in 1920 and remained that way until it won independence in 1963. Among the worst atrocities under British rule occurred during the Mau Mau uprising, which started in 1952 – the year Queen Elizabeth took the throne.
The colonial administration at the time carried out extreme acts of torture, including castration and sexual assault, in detainment camps where as many as 150,000 Kenyans were held. Elderly Kenyans who sued for compensation in 2011 were ultimately awarded £19.9 million by a British court, to be split between more than 5,000 claimants.
The UK Foreign Secretary at the time, William Hague, said: “The British Government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place, and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence.”
Africa’s memory of the Queen cannot be separated from that colonial past, professor of communication Farooq Kperogi at Kennesaw State University told CNN.
“The Queen’s legacy started in colonialism and is still wrapped in it. It used to be said that the sun did not set over the British empire. No amount of compassion or sympathy that her death has generated can wipe that away,” he told CNN.
While many African leaders have mourned her passing – including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who described her reign as “unique and wonderful” – other prominent voices in regional politics have not.
In South Africa, one opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was unequivocal. “We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa’s history,” the EFF said in a statement.
“Our interaction with Britain has been one of pain, … death and dispossession, and of the dehumanisation of the African people,” it added.
Others recalled Britain’s role in the Nigerian civil war, where arms were secretly supplied to the government for use against Biafrans who wanted to form a breakaway republic. Between 1 million and 3 million people died in that war. British musician John Lennon returned his MBE, an honorary title, to the Queen in protest over Britain’s role in the war.
Still, many on the continent remember the Queen as a stabilizing force who brought about positive change during her reign.
Ayodele Modupe Obayelu from Nigeria told CNN: “Her reign saw the end of the British Empire and the African countries … became a Republic. She doesn’t really deserve any award or standing ovation for it, but it was a step in the right direction.”
And media publisher Dele Momodu was full of praise, recounting meeting her in 2003 in Abuja while covering her visit to Nigeria. He added that he had fled Nigeria for the UK in 1995, during the dictator Sani Abacha’s regime.
“I told her I was a refugee and now the publisher of a magazine. She told me ‘congratulations,’ and moved on to the other people on the line. I salute her. She worked to the very end and was never tired of working for her country. She did her best for her country and that is a lesson in leadership,” he told CNN.
Momodu believes that the Queen did try to “atone” for the brutality of the British Empire. “She came to Nigeria during our independence and some of the artifacts were returned under her reign. That is why the Commonwealth continues to thrive. I feel very sad that the world has lost a great human being.”
Adekunbi Rowland, also from Nigeria, said: “The Queen’s passing represents the end of an era. As a woman, I’m intrigued by her story. This young woman had an unprecedented accession to the throne, and with much grace and dignity did everything in her power to protect the country and Commonwealth she loved no matter what it took.”
The Queen once declared, “I think I have seen more of Africa than almost anybody.”
She made her first official overseas visit to South Africa in 1947, as a princess and would go on to visit more than 120 countries during her reign, many of them on the continent.
It was while visiting Kenya in 1952 that she learned that she had become Queen. Her father George passed away while she was there with Prince Phillip and she immediately ascended the throne.
As colonialism later crumbled and gave way to independence and self-rule in what had been British overseas territories, the former colonies became part of a Commonwealth group of nations with the Queen at its head and she worked tirelessly to keep the group together over the years.
She forged strong bonds with African leaders, including Nelson Mandela, whom she visited twice in South Africa, and Kwame Nkrumah, with whom she was famously pictured dancing during her visit to Ghana in 1961.
However, there is now a growing clamor for independence and accountability over Britain’s past crimes such as slavery. In November 2021, Barbados removed the Queen as its head of state, 55 years after it declared independence from Britain, and other Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica, have indicated they intend to do the same.
Prince William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visited Jamaica in March but they faced protests and calls for reparations during the trip. There were also calls for a formal apology for the royal family’s links to slavery.
“During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors that took place during her reign and/or during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonization,” wrote members of a protest group, the Advocates Network Jamaica.
In June, Prince Charles became the first UK royal to visit Rwanda, where he was representing the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Following his mother’s death, he now heads the Commonwealth, and will embark on a new relationship with its members, about a third of which are in Africa.
Some are asking whether he will be as effective in building the organization as his mother, and above all, how relevant it still is, given its roots in Empire.
When Queen Elizabeth II became queen, in a treehouse in Kenya
Thousands of miles away in Kenya, his older daughter, Princess Elizabeth, had also had a wonderful day, seeing and filming with her handheld movie camera rhinos, warthogs, baboons and a herd of elephants, pink from rolling in the dust.
But the next day, Feb. 6, when Elizabeth became sovereign? The queen would always commemorate it with a day of quiet reflection. This date marks when her beloved father, King George VI, 56, was found to have passed away in his sleep.
“It is a day that, even after 70 years, I still remember as much for the death of my father, King George VI, as for the start of my reign,” she wrote in an anniversary statement in February.
Queen Elizabeth died Thursday at 96. She reigned longer than any other British monarch, 70 years.
The story of the day and hour of Elizabeth’s accession to the throne has been told many times, but it remains a captivating tale. It is history with echoes of Arthurian romance.
On the morning of her father’s death, 25-year-old Elizabeth was perched in a treehouse in Kenya from which she’d watched a herd of elephants led by matriarchs come to a watering hole.
“There has been much speculation, not least because of historical parallels, about when precisely Elizabeth became Queen,” wrote Sally Bedell Smith in her biography of the monarch. “It undoubtedly happened when she was atop the African fig tree, which draws a romantic line to the moment in 1558 when Elizabeth I, seated next to an oak tree at Hatfield House, heard that the death of her sister, Queen Mary, meant she was the monarch, also at age twenty-five.”
For many months, King George — known to today’s generations for overcoming a debilitating stutter in the 2010 Oscar-winning film “The King’s Speech” — had been in declining health.
“The King, a heavy smoker, underwent a left total pneumonectomy in September 1951 for what euphemistically was called ‘structural abnormalities’ of his left lung, but what in reality was a carcinoma,” wrote Rolf F. Barth of Ohio State University in a “pathologists’ reassessment” last year.
“His physicians withheld this diagnosis from him, the public, and the medical profession,” he and co-author L. Maximilian Buja wrote.
Too ill to travel, 56-year-old George tasked Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, with undertaking a months-long tour of the Commonwealth, in the twilight of the British Empire.
George saw his daughter off at London Airport on Jan. 31, 1952. Newspapers said the king looked “well and cheerful.” One of his biographers would later suggest “haggard” as a better description. The crowd let out a cheer as he waved goodbye to Elizabeth.
It would be the last time the two saw each other.
The young couple traveled to Kenya, where a BBC newsreel shows Elizabeth in a print dress and Philip in a white naval uniform, bedecked in medals, emerging from the BOAC Argonaut plane.
“When the royal couple stepped off into the hot sunshine of Nairobi, no one knew then that the girl who had arrived here as Princess Elizabeth would leave five days later as queen,” the British broadcaster would report.
From the Kenyan capital, Elizabeth and Philip, accompanied by a small entourage, traveled three hours to Sagana Lodge, a villa alongside a trout stream, presented to them as a wedding gift from the Kenyan state.
“It was a dangerous time in the British colony. The Mau Mau campaign had just broken out across the White Highlands,” wrote historian Nicholas Best in the Observer. “The officials responsible for the princess’s tour of Kenya, Australia and New Zealand felt unable to guarantee her safety while she was in Kenya. It was only fear of ridicule that stopped them canceling the African leg of the trip.”
On Feb. 5, the couple traveled further into the forest, to the Treetops Hotel, a game-viewing lodge. Their three-bed cabin was reached by a rickety ladder and built into the branches of an ancient fig tree, overlooking a waterhole and salt lick.
“Treetops is old hat now, but in 1952 it was the only place of its kind in the world,” wrote Best, who has been researching lodge founder Eric Sherbrooke Walker, a colorful character, former bootlegger and friend of royals.
In an interview, Best told The Washington Post that Walker positioned local men with spears at the edge of the forest to deter journalists, out of concern for Elizabeth’s privacy and also because the smell of more humans would frighten the wildlife.
Naturalist and big-game hunter Jim Corbett, who accompanied the couple, spent the darkest hours of the night at the entrance of the lodge with a shotgun, to keep curious leopards away, Best said.
On Feb. 6, because of the distance and difficulty of communication, it took hours for the news of the king’s death to reach rural Kenya. The message was relayed to Philip’s private secretary, and from Philip to his wife when they’d returned to Sagana Lodge.
Without ceremony or even awareness, but in accordance with British tradition, Elizabeth had become queen.
The newspaper front pages rang out, “Long Live Queen Elizabeth,” while noting, “Her Majesty, pale with grief, leaves by air for home.”
The new queen stayed composed, except for one moment on the flight back to London. “The Queen left her seat after a while. Her face was set when she returned, but it was obvious to the other passengers that she had been in the loo, having a good long cry,” Best wrote in the Guardian.
When the plane arrived, a black dress was quickly brought onboard so she could disembark in appropriate mourning attire.
The next day, she read a proclamation declaring her reign:
“By the sudden death of my dear father, I am called to assume the duties and responsibilities of sovereignty. My heart is too full for me to say more to you today than I shall always work as my father did throughout his reign, to advance the happiness and prosperity of my peoples, spread as they are all the world over.”
Canadian health care worker drowns on Facebook livestream
A health care worker drowned in a pool during a Facebook livestream last week — to the horror of her family and friends in Kenya.
Hellen Nyabuto, 24, died while swimming in a motel pool in Chatsworth, Ontario Thursday, according to the Toronto Star.
Nyabuto was livestreaming the fatal incident and was seen smiling, swimming and talking to online viewers from the shallow end of the pool, according to the newspaper.
After moving to the deep end, she appeared to be struggling and could be heard calling for help after moving outside of the stream’s frame.
The feed then went quiet for hours until other motel-goers were seen getting into the pool and discovering Nyabuto’s lifeless body, the article said. The livestream had since been removed from Facebook.
Nyabuto moved to Canada in 2018 and was working at a long-term care residence in the northwestern Toronto suburbs, according to the outlet.
“Hellen was the breadwinner back home for her family. She’s been supporting them and it’s left a big gap,” Alfonce Nyamwaya, Nyabuto’s close friend, reportedly said.
“She worked with seniors right until the end,” she added. “She really had a passion for that.”
Nyabuto had not returned to her homeland since moving abroad, and loved ones were trying to raise enough money to bring her body back home while making plans to come to Toronto, Nyamwaya reportedly said.
“We need prayers. We need financial support.”
The friend and former college classmate also told the paper Nyamwaya’s family wanted to dispel rumors spreading in Kenya that her death was the result of foul play.
“Let the family mourn in peace. Let Hellen rest. It was an accident.”
Raila Odinga calls Kenya election results null and void, calls for calm
“The figures announced by Mr. Chebukati are null and void and must be crushed by a court of law,” Odinga said at a news conference. “I want to commend our supporters for remaining calm and keeping the peace and urge them to continue to do so. Let no one take the law into their own hands.”
“We are pursuing constitutional and lawful channels and processes to invalidate Mr. Chebukati’s illegal and unconstitutional pronouncement,” he added.
His statement raises the specter of violence between his supporters and the winner’s, which has marred past elections. So far, aside from scattered protests, Kenya has been quiet in the wake of the results.
Odinga’s announcement could bring a repeat of Kenya’s 2017 election outcome when his campaign challenged incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in the Supreme Court, which went on to declare the vote invalid.
Kenyatta still won the election rerun, however, after Odinga told his supporters not to vote, citing distrust in the electoral body. That period was marred by violent street protests and human rights violations.
On Monday afternoon, as the country waited for the election results, one of Odinga’s top election officials, Saitabao Ole Kanchory, said that they had reports the electoral system was “penetrated and hacked” and that “some of the IEBC officials committed electoral offenses.”
Minutes before the results were announced, four out of seven of Kenya’s electoral commissioners said they would not stand by them. In a news conference Tuesday, they said the results were declared by the chair before the commissioners all had a chance to consult on the tabulations and objections brought up by the parties.
“The issue that we have is with the process,” commissioner Justus Nyang’aya said shortly before Odinga’s news conference. “If that is not determined by the commissioners, then it remains the duty, role and responsibility of only one person in the boardroom.”
Monday’s announcement of a win for Ruto prompted celebrations around the country from his supporters. In Ngong Town, on the outskirts of Nairobi, drivers honked their horns and formed processions on the road as they celebrated. Meanwhile, in Ruto’s hometown of Sugoi, people celebrated till late.
In western Kenya’s Kisumu City, an Odinga support base, protesters briefly lit tires on the street, blocking the roads with rocks before police dispersed them.
This is expected to be Odinga’s last attempt at the presidency. It was the 77-year-old’s fifth try for the top job.
The country’s most serious spate of election violence came with Odinga’s 2007 loss to Mwai Kibaki by a narrow margin — also amid allegations of vote-rigging. Post-election violence left more than 1,000 dead and over 5,000 displaced.
In Kibera, a slum in Nairobi that is considered a stronghold for Odinga, crowds that had in previous days gathered to watch live broadcasts ahead of the results had dispersed. “The announcement was disappointing; whatever Odinga says is what we will do, he is our leader. We trust his judgment for the way forward,” said Job Owino, a supporter.
Mercy Wanjiru, 30, a resident of Mathare who was displaced during the 2007 post-election violence, said she was happy about Ruto’s win and was hoping Odinga would concede to avoid a repeat of the violence.
“We have a country to build,” she said. “It is now time to heal and move on.”
Kenya election 2022 results: William Ruto declared winner of presidential vote
Ruto won with 50.49% of the vote, narrowly defeating veteran opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who was contesting his fifth election.
He will become Kenya’s fifth President since independence, winning the seat on his first attempt. Ruto’s party, the Kenya First coalition, has won a majority of seats in Kenya’s senate, the second highest in the National Assembly.
The results announcement was delayed for more than two hours past the constitutional deadline and the country’s electoral commission was split, after four officials disowned the commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati’s results.
The opposing officials staged a press conference of their own at another venue disputing the official results. The IEBC’s vice chair Juliana Cherera was among those who disagreed with the results but provided no evidence of irregularities.
Earlier Monday, Ruto’s rival Odinga’s coalition also rejected the election results before they had even been announced by Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao Kanchory told the press outside the national election center in Nairobi that they had not yet been able to cross check the final result with their own tally.
“Once we see them, we want to verify them, when we verify them, we will be able to know and to tell the Kenyan people, because a result that is not verifiable is not a result.” Kanchory told reporters awaiting the results announcement.
The national tallying center briefly descended into chaos shortly after Odinga’s coalition rejected the results, with fighting breaking out and chairs being thrown in the building.
‘It’s not over till it’s over’
Ruto thanked the people of Kenya for voting him as the next leader of the country in his first speech after being announced the winner of the election.
“In this election, there are no losers. The people of Kenya have won because we have raised the political bar. The people of Kenya are the biggest winners,” he said
He expressed his “gratitude” to Kenyan citizens “who refused to be boxed into tribal cocoons.”
He also thanked his competitor and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, and said: “We dwelled on issues and tried to sell an agenda to the people of Kenya during the campaign.”
“It was God that brought us here … my team and I will make sure that the sacrifices made by many Kenyans is not in vain …I will run a transparent, open, democratic government and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over my administration,” he added.
There was a divided response to the presidential election results in Kenya on Monday evening. In Eldoret, live pictures from Ruto’s hometown showed large crowds celebrating and cheering his win.
But in Kisumu, Odinga’s stronghold, protests erupted. Live images showed scores protesting the election results, tires on fire and smoke billowing in the air.
Odinga’s running mate Martha Karua also took to Twitter following the results announcement and said: “It is not over till it is over.”
The ‘hustler-in-chief’
Analysts had predicted a win for Odinga, given his performance in opinion polls and the support he enjoyed from outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.
But Ruto’s populist “man-of-the-people” approach, which rejected political dynasties and played on anti-elite sentiment in the country, endeared him to voters.
He was able to transcend Kenya’s traditionally dynastic politics to beat Odinga, the son of Kenya’s first vice president.
During the campaign, Ruto described himself as the “hustler-in-chief,” citing his humble beginnings as a chicken seller who fought his way up to the top of Kenyan politics.
Political analyst Herman Manyora told CNN ahead of the election that “Ruto has excited the youths … almost in a euphoric sense.”
Ruto, a former teacher who holds a doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Nairobi, has pledged to prioritize Kenya’s economy and “uplift ordinary citizens” as President.
He will come under pressure to provide solutions to Kenya’s pressing economic problems, including growing debt, high food and fuel prices, and mass youth unemployment.
Ruto has a long and varied history in Kenyan politics and was also tried alongside President Kenyatta in 2013 at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity following deadly violence in the 2007 elections. However, the charges were later thrown out.