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NAIROBI, Kenya — On a continent the place army coups and rubber stamp elections have proliferated in recent times, Kenya stands out.
Regardless of its flaws and endemic corruption, the East African nation and financial powerhouse has steadily grown into a logo of what’s attainable, its democracy underpinned by a robust Structure and its hard-fought elections an instance to different African nations looking for to carve a path away from autocracy.
However Kenya has simply hit a velocity bump.
On Monday, a winner was declared in its newest presidential election, ending an unpredictable battle that had tens of millions of Kenyans glued to their televisions and smartphones because the outcomes rolled in. William Ruto, the president-elect, beamed as he addressed a corridor stuffed with roaring supporters, lauding the “very historic, democratic event.”
However the dropping candidate, Raila Odinga, rejected the end result even earlier than it was introduced. A fracas erupted within the corridor the place Mr. Ruto had been talking, and the place the votes had been counted, sending chairs and fists flying. And 4 electoral commissioners stormed out, casting doubt on a end result that’s nearly sure to finish up in court docket.
And so the election hangs within the stability, scrutinized not simply at house however throughout a continent the place Kenya’s rambunctious democracy is amongst these which are considered as indicators of progress.
“We would not have the luxurious to look again, we would not have the luxurious to level fingers,” Mr. Ruto mentioned. “We should shut ranks to work collectively.”
It began out as a day of hope.
Early within the morning, a number of thousand folks started packing into the large corridor in a Nairobi suburb to listen to the election outcomes, following an arduous six-day rely that had the nation on tenterhooks.
Mr. Ruto and Mr. Odinga had been neck-and-neck all through the rely, generally separated by as few as 7,000 votes, in accordance with unofficial information media tallies. These razor-thin margins left many nervous: Though its democracy is strong, Kenya’s elections may be vicious, and its final three contests had been marred by disputed outcomes that led to protracted crises, court docket circumstances and road violence that in 2007 killed over 1,200 folks.
Chastened by these failures, the electoral fee had gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure a clear vote. Inside 24 hours of polls closing final Tuesday night, it had posted to its web site pictures displaying the outcomes from almost each polling station — over 46,000 of them.
However as Wafula Chebukati, the chief electoral commissioner, ready to announce the winner on Monday, one in all Mr. Odinga’s high aides known as an impromptu information convention outdoors.
“This was essentially the most mismanaged election in Kenya’s historical past,” Saitabao Ole Kanchory advised reporters in a flurry of invective that described the counting heart as “against the law scene” and known as on these in cost “to be arrested.”
Moments later, pandemonium erupted contained in the corridor.
Supporters of Mr. Odinga, together with Mr. Ole Kanchory, stormed the dais, throwing chairs on the ground and clashing with safety officers brandishing truncheons. Overseas diplomats and election observers fled to a backstage space — however a choir that had been belting out gospel songs for a lot of the day continued to sing.
As soon as the scenario calmed, Mr. Chebukati emerged to ship a brief speech through which he famous that two of his commissioners had been injured within the melee — and others harassed, “arbitrarily arrested” or disappeared — earlier than continuing to announce the outcomes.
Mr. Ruto acquired 50.49 p.c of votes, he mentioned, in opposition to 48.85 p.c for Mr. Odinga, a distinction of simply 233,211 votes however sufficient to keep away from a runoff.
In a speech that appeared meant to mission authority and supply reassurance, Mr. Ruto thanked his supporters and vowed to work for the nice of Kenya. He promised to put aside the bitterness of the marketing campaign — and the chaotic scenes minutes earlier — to focus on the nation’s flailing economic system.
“There isn’t any room for vengeance,” Mr. Ruto mentioned, flanked by his spouse and by his working mate, Rigathi Gachagua. “Our nation is at a stage the place we want all arms on deck to maneuver it ahead. We would not have the luxurious to look again.”
Celebrations erupted within the streets of Eldoret, a stronghold for Mr. Ruto within the Rift Valley, the place there was a deafening cacophony of horns, whistles and chants filling the downtown space.
However in a lot of the nation, his victory was overshadowed by a serious growth: 4 of the seven electoral commissioners refused to confirm the vote, defying Mr. Chebukati and decamping to a luxurious resort the place they denounced “the opaque nature” of the ultimate section of the rely.
These commissioners, it turned out, had been appointed by Mr. Odinga’s most outstanding ally within the race, President Uhuru Kenyatta, who’s barred by time period limits from working once more.
Talking to journalists a number of hours later, Mr. Ruto dismissed their declaration as a “aspect present.” Underneath Kenyan legislation, he mentioned, Mr. Chebukati alone is accountable for declaring the winner.
“Legally, constitutionally, the 4 commissioners pose no menace in any respect to the legality of the declaration,” Mr. Ruto mentioned.
Nonetheless, the drama recommended {that a} day that ought to have signaled the top of the presidential contest would possibly find yourself being simply one other chapter within the nail-biter race that has had Kenyans on the sting of their seats because the vote on Tuesday.
The candidates had been a research in contrasts.
Mr. Odinga, 77, a leftist from one in all Kenya’s most storied political dynasties, made his first bid for the presidency in 1997. He ran three extra occasions, at all times dropping, earlier than making an attempt once more this yr.
Though he did as soon as function prime minister, Mr. Odinga’s electoral defeats embodied the broader frustrations of his ethnic group, the Luo, which has by no means managed the Kenyan presidency in all of the years because the nation gained independence from Britain in 1963.
Mr. Ruto, 55, the nation’s vice chairman and a rich businessman, forged himself as champion of Kenya’s “hustler nation” — the disillusioned, largely younger strivers struggling to achieve a foothold. He incessantly advised voters about his humble origins, together with a barefoot childhood and an early profession promoting chickens on the aspect of a busy freeway.
That picture contrasted with Mr. Ruto’s appreciable wealth, which has grown throughout his political profession to incorporate a luxurious resort, 1000’s of acres of land and a big poultry processing plant.
Whereas the “hustler” pitch resonated powerfully with some Kenyans, others simply shrugged. Simply 40 p.c of Kenyans beneath 35 registered to vote on this election, and the 65 p.c turnout was sharply down from the 80 p.c reported within the 2017 election.
The low turnout seemed to be a rejection of what many noticed as a nasty selection between candidates from their nation’s discredited political elite.
In voting for Mr. Ruto, tens of millions of Kenyans neglected the fees he as soon as confronted on the Worldwide Prison Court docket, which a decade in the past accused him of whipping up the storm of violence after the 2007 election that just about pushed Kenya right into a civil struggle.
The costs included homicide, persecution and forcing folks to go away their houses, however the case collapsed in 2016. The Kenyan authorities — Mr. Ruto was vice chairman — engaged in what the court docket mentioned was “witness interference and political meddling.”
Mr. Ruto was working not simply in opposition to Mr. Odinga however, in impact, in opposition to his personal boss, Mr. Kenyatta, whom he accused of betrayal for backing Mr. Odinga.
As a substitute of delivering votes for his chosen successor, Mr. Kenyatta suffered a humiliating rebuke from voters in his heartland, the Mount Kenya area, the place ethnic Kikuyus rejected his allies throughout the board. Even on the polling station the place Mr. Kenyatta forged his vote on Tuesday, Mr. Ruto scored a sweeping majority, the outcomes confirmed.
Debilitating financial troubles offered a bleak backdrop to Tuesday’s vote. The tourism-reliant economic system has been battered in recent times, first by the coronavirus pandemic, then by Russia’s assault on Ukraine, which prompted meals and gasoline costs to rise much more amid a world downturn.
“Maize flour, cooking oil, cooking fuel — the whole lot goes up,” Abzed Osman, an actor who additionally works in tourism, mentioned as he stood in line to vote on Tuesday within the Nairobi district of Kibera, Africa’s largest shantytown.
By Monday night in Kisumu County, one in all Mr. Odinga’s strongholds in western Kenya, tons of of protesters who had been eagerly awaiting the outcomes started demonstrating and burning tires, witnesses mentioned.
Hours later a spokesman for Mr. Odinga, Dennis Onsarigo, mentioned the candidate planned to address the nation on Tuesday.
Declan Walsh and Matthew Mpoke Bigg reported from Nairobi, and Abdi Latif Dahir from Eldoret.
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