Ruto reveals phone call with Odinga hours before poll victory
President-Elect Dr. William Ruto says he is committed to ensuring Kenya remains peaceful following the announcement of the presidential results on Monday, August 15.
Speaking to journalists at Bomas on Monday night, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader said he had a long conversation with his main rival, Raila Odinga of the Azimio One Kenya coalition on how to move the country forward.
“This morning I called my competitor, Hon. Raila Odinga, and I had a discussion with him and we agreed that whatever the outcome of this election, we should have a conversation,” he said.
“…He (Raila) had offered in his statement in Kasarani that he would be available for a handshake and I said that I will be available for us to have a cup of tea because there are areas we can agree on moving the country forward,” he added.
Ruto extended an olive branch to his opponents promising to run an inclusive government.
“We believe in an inclusive government and in any case, the people of Kenya have spoken very loudly in this election and they have spoken against negative ethnicity,” he stated.
While admitting that he has not talked to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ruto noted that the two will soon meet and hold wide discussions as part of the transition process.
“I am sure at some point this evening or tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have a conversation. I am the president-elect and there has to be a transition. In that transition there will be a conversation,” Ruto said.
Ruto was declared the winner of the presidential election with 7,176, 141 votes, representing 50.49 % of the total votes cast.
The country’s Deputy President narrowly beat the Azimio leader, who garnered 48.5% of the vote.
Earlier, the Raila-led coalition questioned the credibility of the poll alleging that IEBC systems had been compromised.
Raila’s Chief Agent Saitabao Ole Kanchory claimed that the electoral body’s systems were hacked, tainting the credibility of the election.
Kanchory alleged that officials of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) were involved in a ‘rigging scheme’.
“We have intelligence reports that their system was penetrated and hacked and that some of the IEBC officials actually committed electoral offences and some of them ought to have been arrested if they were not arrested,” Kanchory stated.
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