counting chickens

Kenya: After Ruto beat Kenyatta in the first battle, what’s next?

By Son Gatitu

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Posted on August 4, 2021 12:23

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenyan Deputy President Ruto attend the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), a government report intended to address cyclical election violence in Nairobi © Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi, Kenya, November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Mwangi
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi, Kenya, November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Mwangi

The next 12 months could be the most defining in the political career of William Ruto, the deputy president of Kenya. After winning a key by-election in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s home county of Kiambu, he has successfully fired the first shot. But will he score enough shots to propel him to the presidency and succeed his long-time ally-turned-competitor?

On 15 July 2021, over 43,000 voters went to the polls in Kiambaa Constituency of Kiambu County to elect their new member of parliament. It had been seven weeks of campaigning that intensified during the final three weeks. The battle lines were drawn.

Though eight candidates had been cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), it would only be a race between two: John Njuguna Wanjiku of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Jubilee’s Kariri Njama. If this had been 2020, the two candidates would have been on the same side; but after a lot of haggling, they are now on different sides of the political boxing ring.

Making of the contest

Back in 2017, Njama had vied against Koinange as an independent candidate securing more than 15,000 votes – not a mean feat for a candidate without a party in Kiambu County. However, the final tally in the mini-poll showed Njama

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