William Ruto wins Kenyan presidential election when brawl breaks out at vote counting center | World News

Last week, millions of Kenyans exercised their democratic rights and voted for their next political leaders.

But today, as chairs and tables were toppled across the national tally center in Nairobi, hopes for a smooth and successful electoral process were sadly dashed.

The race between former prime minister Raila Odinga and incumbent vice president William Ruto is very close.

Public tabulations of electronically uploaded ballots from more than 46,200 polling stations around the country alternated between the top two for days.

As of last night, Mr Ruto seems to be leading with several hundred thousand votes.

Today, three different choirs sang tunes of Kenyan pride as the whole country gathered to learn the final outcome of the presidential race.

As announcement time came and went, whispers rang out about an informal press conference outside the center.

Mr. Odinga’s chief electoral liaison has formally rejected the ballot verification process carried out by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Saitabao Ole Kanchory said: “We have intelligence reports that their systems have been compromised and hacked, and that some IEBC officials actually committed electoral crimes and some of them probably would have been arrested, had they not been caught.”

Soon after, four of the seven election commissioners rejected the final results, calling the vote count “unclear”.

Endorsed by the public denunciation, members of Mr. Odinga’s Azimio party began taking action inside the centre.

The anxiety of the six-day wait finally flared into chaos, while the choir continued to sing.

Chairs were thrown, tables were overturned and a podium was raised and dashed from above. All hell broke loose as Azimio loyalists waved their hands in ‘X’ signs in front of the journalists’ balconies.

Their refusal to announce the upcoming announcement is clear – even as riot police crack down on them. The force was met with force, as dissidents were trampled and escorted out of the center to the cheers of members of Mr. Ruto’s UDA party.

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The frenzy gave way to an eerie calm and soon Mr. Ruto arrived to the cheers of his party and dizzying election watchers.

A brief sarcastic prayer for peace and healing introduced IEBC president Wafula Chebukati, who cut off the chase.

“I, Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the independent electoral boundary committee, declare that Ruto William Samoei … has just been elected President of the Republic of Kenya,” he said.

Mr Ruto won with 50.49% of the vote – 7,176,141 votes – according to IEBC results.

Protests took place in Mr. Odinga’s Nairobi stronghold, Kibera. In the port city of Kisumu, police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

Celebrations were in full swing in Ruto’s hometown of El-Doret and parts of the capital.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Ruto thanked his “worthy opponent” Mr Odinga and his “boss” current President Uhuru Kenyatta and his former ally turned enemy. Both men have yet to comment on the results.

The response came from Martha Karua, Odinga’s executive friend, who was set to become Kenya’s first female Vice President.

“It’s not over until it’s over” read her tweet.

I asked Mr. Ruto about the tweet during a press conference shortly after his declared victory.

“How would you react to a controversial election result?”.

“This election to the best of our knowledge and knowledge is over,” he replied.