Kenya's Supreme Court confirms William Ruto's victory in presidential election

Kenya's Supreme Court has ended the country's uncertainty by confirming Deputy President William Ruto's victory in the presidential election on 9 August. The highest judicial court has dismissed the nine appeals lodged by his main rival, the former prime minister and opposition leader, Raila Odinga. 

As announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC), Deputy President William Ruto won the election with 50.49% of the vote, while Odinga won 48.85% of the vote. However, the Commission's announcement was not welcomed by Odigna, who, along with his running mate Martha Karua, challenged the election results on 22 August.

The leaders of the Azimio La Umoja coalition claimed that the results were "illegal" and that hackers had hacked into IEBC servers to manipulate the forms used to tabulate polling station results. They further alleged that Willliam Ruto had failed to reach the 50% threshold for not repeating a run-off election, as required by the Constitution. 

In any case, the president of the Supreme Court, Martha Koome, announced that the verdict was unanimous, final and not subject to appeal. Ruto will thus be sworn in as the new president on 13 September, the fifth since Kenya gained its independence in 1960. 

The outgoing president, Uhuru Kenyatta, will leave office after 10 years at the helm of the country's executive and will do so, he says, peacefully: "It is my intention to oversee a smooth transition to the next administration and all the necessary orders have already been issued to facilitate this process," he said.  

However, Kenyatta said that while he respects the Supreme Court's decision, he disagrees "vehemently" with the ruling. That is why he called on Kenyans to "investigate the consistency" of the country's institutions. "This judgment is by no means the end of our movement. It inspires us to redouble our efforts to transform this country into a thriving democracy," he added in a statement.

The African Union (AU) congratulated William Ruto on his election victory and the "unanimous judicial confirmation of the election results", and congratulated Kenyatta for his "strong leadership during his term in office". AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat praised the performance of the Kenyan electoral commission and all national actors for the peaceful process of the elections up to the Supreme Court outcome. This is particularly important for Kenya's democracy after waves of violence in previous elections, such as those in 2007, which left more than 1,100 people dead and 600,000 displaced. 

In the previous elections, the opposition candidate Raila Odinga had already challenged the results, which meant that he had fallen short of the votes needed to be sworn in as president. But this new defeat is a tragedy for his supporters, who failed to reach more than 50% of the vote, even with Kenyatta's support. It is the fifth time the 77-year-old candidate has lost an election, and his dream of becoming president, a reality he inherited from his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya's first vice-president who never became president despite his campaign against British colonialism, is increasingly fading.

All eyes are now on 17 September, when candidate William Ruto will be sworn in as president after winning the 9 August elections. His success was due to his speech in which he promised to end the two political dynasties, Odinga and Kenyatta. Ruto will now have to deliver on his promise to improve the lives of Kenyans by tackling corruption, massive unemployment, national debt and the economic crisis that is driving up the cost of living.