The head of Kenya's election body on Monday declared Deputy President William Ruto the winner of the country's close-fought presidential election, despite several commissioners rejecting the results.
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Ruto Declared Winner of Kenya’s Presidential Election
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati said Ruto had won almost 7.18 million votes (50.49 percent) against 6.94 million (48.85 percent) for his rival Raila Odinga in the August 9 vote. The remaining ballots were cast for two other presidential contenders.
Ruto vowed Monday to work with "all leaders" as he was declared winner of a closely-fought poll, attempting to ease tensions after the outcome sparked a split in the election commission and fears of violence.
"There is no room for vengeance," Ruto said, adding, "I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck."
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William Ruto Takes Over Kenya Presidency
The IEBC results announcement came after the official counting center was thrown into chaos earlier on Monday after four out of seven election commissioners said they could not recognize the results.
Minutes before the chairman of the electoral commission Wafula Chebukati announced that Ruto had won the vote, his deputy Juliana Cherera had told media at a separate location that she and three other commissioners disowned the results.
"We cannot take ownership of the result that will be announced," Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) vice chair Juliana Cherera told reporters, saying the process was "opaque."
Slow progress by the electoral commission in tallying Tuesday's vote fed anxiety in East Africa's most economically advanced country, which was shaken by bloody post-poll violence following disputed 2007 elections and now faces an economic and social crisis.
In 2017, after the Supreme Court quashed the result over irregularities in the electoral process, more than 100 were killed.
The many checks and balances were designed to try to prevent the kind of allegations of rigging that provoked violence after the 2007 vote, when more than 1,200 people were killed.
Ruto heads the Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) Alliance and served as a lawmaker and minister for agriculture before becoming deputy president.
This report was compiled with information supplied by Reuters and Agence France-Presse