Akufo-Addo congratulates Kenyan President-elect

On August 19, 2022, 10:21 AM

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has congratulated the newly-elected President of Kenya, William Ruto, on his victory in the just ended presidential elections of that country.

He noted that the success of the 2022 election is yet another milestone in the pursuit of “our common aspiration” for democratic governance, rule of law, and the inclusive participation of Ghanaians and Kenyans in the governance process of the two countries on the continent.

“I look forward to working with you to champion the cause of our continent, and to strengthen further the historical bonds of friendship and cooperation that happily exist between our two countries and peoples,” President Akufo-Addo added.

Who is Ruto

William Ruto has emerged the winner of a tense and fiercely fought contest for Kenya’s presidency, but who is the man who will lead east Africa’s largest economy?

As a boy, Ruto grew up on his family’s farm in a quiet village in the Rift Valley, selling chickens from a roadside stall to make money. In his presidential campaign, he tapped into those roots, touting himself as a “hustler” Kenyan who pulled himself out of poverty and into the country’s corridors of power.

Ruto, who has served as deputy president since 2013, pulled off a stunning defeat against his chief opponent, veteran politician Raila Odinga.

The 55-year-old will become Kenya’s fifth president since the country declared independence. His party, Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) coalition, has also won a majority of seats in Kenya’s Senate, the upper house of the parliament.

It was through church leadership at the University of Nairobi that Ruto got his first taste for politics, meeting and campaigning for former president Daniel Arap Moi in the 1992 elections.

“He (Moi) identified me from the university where I was a worship leader and took interest in me. He introduced me to politics, groomed me, and inculcated in me the culture of servant leadership,” Ruto said in April, according to a report in local media.

Ruto, who studied botany and zoology at university, and later received a doctorate in plant ecology, started to shift his focus to politics in the 1990s. In 1997, he took a gamble and ran for the parliamentary seat of the Eldoret North constituency, which he won. He rose through the ranks and was re-elected as a member of parliament in 2002.

He was acquitted of corruption charges in 2011 and in 2013 was tried alongside then-President Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court, accused of crimes against humanity for stoking ethnic violence following the 2007 elections. However, the charges were later thrown out.

“There were predictions that we won’t get here, but … we are here,” Ruto declared in his victory speech on Monday.

The father of six, who is fiercely religious, took the opportunity to recite verses from the Bible and praise God. “I want to confess that I have been prayed into victory,” added Ruto, who chaired the Christian Union in his college days.

Ruto calls his supporters “hustlers” and describes himself as “hustler-in-chief.”

He has promised a break from the “dynasties” that have dominated Kenya’s political landscape since independence, like the Odingas and Kenyatta’s. Odinga’s father was a former vice president and outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta’s father, Jomo Kenyatta, was the country’s first president in 1963.

Odinga, a former prime minister, and opposition leader has spent a quarter of a century vying for the presidential spot, running five times. He has said this will be his final contest.

Story By Aba Asamoah / info@theghanareport.com