William Ruto became President of Kenya after Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled that allegations of election fraud were unfounded.
After taking the oath last week, Root traveled to the United States for further official duties after attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London on Monday. will face a jam-packed agenda upon returning home, which “has inherited an economy riddled with debt, inflation, unemployment and national pessimism,” said XN Iraki, an associate professor at the university. An article in The Conversation, Nairobi.
Who is William Ruto?
Deutsche Welle (DW) said the new president’s “humble beginnings” appeared to have helped win over voters in recent Kenyan elections. The German news site went on to say that Ruth “said he made a living selling live chickens.” But today, “he is one of Kenya’s richest men, boasting a 2,500-acre ranch, a large poultry farm and investments in the hotel industry.”
A “confessed Christian,” Ruto began his political career in 1992 after studying botany and zoology at the University of Nairobi. He said, “Then Daniel Arup was mentored by President Moi, he says,” the BBC said, referring to “Mr. Moi’s once-dominant youth wing of the Guan Yu Party.
By 2007, he was in the center-left Orange Democratic Movement, supporting Laila Odinga, his main rival in recent votes. The ODM narrowly lost his 2007 election, but after Mwai Kibaki took office, the outcome was contested and violence erupted. About 1,200 people have died and “hundreds of thousands” have been forced from their homes, DW said. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has accused Ruto of committing human rights violations. The charges were dropped 11 years later.
Uhuru Kenyatta, who was jointly accused of human rights abuses following contested election results, was elected president of Kenya again in 2013 and 2017, with Root serving as vice president in both terms.
Why the two would later “fall out” was “not yet clear”, DW said, but “separated in 2021”. supported.
How fierce was the election campaign this year?
“It was difficult to decide on Kenya’s top jobs,” said DW. Kenyatta, who backed Odinga’s re-election campaign and said Ruto was “unfit for the post,” was undermined by “a public denial by his superiors,” Reuters reported. said.
Kenyatta’s support for Odinga was thought to “earn support” from the Kikuyu community, the Guardian said. It has been “politically at odds” with the community for “decades.” But the “reconciliation” between Odinga and Kenyatta “wasn’t enough to finally bridge the divide”.
“Both sides have filed accusations of corruption in a highly personal and acrimonious campaign,” Reuters said. “Outspoken” Root “against all odds” received 50.49% of the vote, compared to his 48.85% in Odinga.
Odinga disputed the results, claiming there had been instances of election fraud. But Kenya’s Supreme Court gave him a “scorching verdict” in early September and unanimously confirmed the result, he said, according to the BBC.
“Perhaps the biggest success of the 2022 elections is the fact that Kenyans have demonstrated a commitment to move beyond the country’s history of electoral violence,” said an analysis from the US Institute for Peace.
What does Ruto’s leadership mean for Kenya?
During the campaign, Ruto promised a “radical” economic “transformation” with a bottom-up approach to tackle unemployment and improve living standards for the poorest, Iraki told The Conversation. rice field.
Al Jazeera said lowering fuel and food prices were two “key challenges” facing the route. But just days after he took office, Kenya “done” subsidies for gasoline, which Ruto described as “unsustainable”.
Fuel prices have risen 13% for gasoline and 18% for diesel from the previous month, with analysts warning they could “further push up inflation”.
On social issues, Root “doesn’t hesitate to publicly profess his faith”, said the BBC. governments are unlikely to relax abortion laws.”
Ultimately, “overcoming the nation’s legacy of ethnic politics and building national cohesion” may be the “biggest challenge” Root will have to grapple with, according to the U.S. Peace Institute.
What does his leadership mean for international relations?
Less than a week after taking office, Ruto has already “launched an attack of diplomatic charm,” Kenyan newspaper The Star reported, joining world leaders at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. .
He will travel to the United States from London on Monday and will deliver his first presidential address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. The US has a “huge” interest in expanding Kenya’s infrastructure and has invested “millions of dollars” in “education, the environment, the rule of law and democratic governance,” the paper said.
The host of the meeting with “the world’s influential leaders” would put Root “in a strong position to advance his agenda,” reported The Star. Tweet On Sunday, he said: “Strengthening ties with the international community will facilitate our country’s transformation.”
