Kenya elected William Ruto, a former impoverished village chicken seller, as its new president following a tense and chaotic election.
Ruto was announced the winner on Monday, though hesitation from several electors is likely to complicate matters. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission says Ruto won 50.5% of the vote, with his former ally Raila Odinga coming right behind with 48.8%, according to the BBC. Ruto’s victory completes a remarkable rags to riches story, with the president-elect growing up in deep poverty.
“I could not imagine somebody who did not have shoes for all his life in primary school could become president,” Ruto’s former classmate Esther Cherobon told Reuters. “We imagine all leaders are from rich families.”
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Touching on his impoverished background, Ruto ran a class-centric campaign. He pitched himself to Kenyans as the self-proclaimed leader of Kenya’s “hustler nation” of young, ambitious, hard-working Kenyans that deserved more, according to the New York Times. Though he served as vice president for the past nine years, he spent his campaign bashing the country’s government for not doing more for the poor.
Odinga’s campaign has indicated it will dispute the results, bringing back fears of another 2007 election scenario, in which more than 1,000 people were killed in violence that sprung up around disputed election results, according to the Wall Street Journal. Four of seven top election officials disassociated themselves with the final result, alleging opacity in the counting process. Supporters of Odinga attacked the election officials that announced the results, with one throwing a chair at the podium.
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Odinga is likely to turn to the Supreme Court to protest the results.
“It is not over till it is over,” Martha Karua, Odinga’s running mate, tweeted after the announcement.
