Nairobi, Kenya- William Ruto has been inaugurated as Kenya‘s fifth President after having narrowly won the August 9 Presidential elections against longtime opposition figure, Raila Odinga.
Ruto’s win was confirmed by the Supreme Court last week after former President Uhuru Kenyatta, under whom he had previously served, had publicly backed opposition leader Odinga.
Despite his mentorship by Kenya’s prior strongman ruler President Daniel Arap Moi, Ruto has pledged not to retaliate against the opposition and their claims of a stolen election.
Odinga accepted the decision by the Supreme Court, but the 77-year-old stayed away from Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.
In a statement on Monday, he said he would skip the inauguration and will later announce the next steps seeking to deepen and strengthen the country’s democracy.
Odinga has run for the position five times. His refusal to accept defeat in 2007 and 2017 was believed to be partly responsible for the violence that followed those elections.
Ruto had been the Deputy to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta but had a bitter split with Kenyatta that left the two not speaking for months at a time.
Nevertheless, Kenyatta on Monday publicly congratulated Ruto for the first time on his win, appearing to put aside the previous fallout.
“You will be President not just for those who voted for you but for all Kenyans,” said the outgoing President.
Ruto is taking power in a country heavily burdened by debt that will challenge his efforts to fulfill sweeping campaign promises made to Kenya’s poor.
With the transition, Kenya’s Presidency moves from one leader indicted by the International Criminal Court to another. Both Kenyatta and Ruto were indicted over their roles in the deadly 2007 post-election violence, but the cases were later closed amid allegations of witness intimidation.
However, scores of people were crushed and injured as Kenyans Tuesday forced their way into the 60 000 capacity Sports Centre to witness the inauguration.
According to the Police, by 5 a.m, the Sports Centre had already been filled up, leading to people getting injured as crowds continued to try and enter despite calls for people to stay home.
A medic said a fence at the Sports Centre fell down after people pushed it and about 60 were injured, though the number may rise.
The August election was peaceful in a country with a history of political violence. Chaos erupted only in the final minutes when the Electoral Commission publicly split and prominent Odinga supporters tried to physically stop the declaration of Ruto as the winner.
