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.
The 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.
Ruto becomes the fifth president-elect of Kenya.
The announcement of the long-awaited outcome of Kenya’s presidential vote had earlier been thrown into chaos on Monday after four out of seven election commissioners said they could not recognise the results.
“We cannot take ownership of the result that will be announced,” the IEBC vice chair Juliana Cherera told reporters.
She described the process as “opaque” but did not elaborate, saying further information would be given later.
