Kenya: President-elect Ruto promises a "transparent" government that is "accountable"
Kenya's President-elect William Ruto speaks to the media from his Vice President's Residence in the Karen Ward in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. AP - Mosa'ab Elshamy
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
"
If there are legal proceedings, we will cooperate, because we are democrats and we believe in the rule of law
" replies William Ruto to his opponent Raila Odinga, who calls the results of the election a "
parody
" and counts file a lawsuit.
In the meantime, William Ruto is confident and talks about his future governance as if nothing had happened, or almost.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Nairobi,
Florence Morice
William Ruto did not mention the name of his unfortunate opponent in the presidential election and waited until the end of his speech to discuss this hypothesis of a legal action against his election.
William Ruto
is confident: "
We won despite the obstacles
" he says.
Confident and eager to govern and move forward: "
The expectations of Kenyans are huge and so we don't have the luxury of wasting time
."
“
We want to move the country forward as quickly as possible
”, he insists, before affirming that we are impatiently waiting for “
the end of the current process
”.
"
The expectations of Kenyans are enormous and therefore we do not have the luxury of wasting time
", he continues, two days after his victory announced at 50.49% of the vote against 48.85% for Raila Odinga, figure of the opposition supported by the outgoing president, who
rejected these results on Tuesday
.
A way perhaps of implying that Kenya cannot afford a canceled election like in 2017 and of pretending to relegate the challenge of Raila Odinga to the margins of its concerns.
As a fine tactician, Willam Ruto prefers to look to the future and discuss what his governance will be if he is invested.
He promises to pursue an inclusive policy: "
No part of Kenya will be excluded
" and to free Kenyan politics from its "
ethnic
" dimension.
In Kenya, which officially has 46 ethnic groups, community affiliation is traditionally important on the political spectrum, but "
there will be no room for exclusion
", he insists.
For example, he promises that civil servants will be there to serve all Kenyans equally, regardless of political color.
“
Civil servants will not be available to serve
” political parties because, he says,
that is the only way to have a functioning government
.
»
(and with AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Kenya
William Ruto