Ruto Chebukati
New details have emerged on what was happening in William Ruto’s residence 24 hours before IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati announced the Presidential results on August 15.
According to the Nation Newspaper, President Ruto had a powerful network and knew he had won hours before Chebukati announced the results.
“I was at Karen on that Monday [August 15] very early in the morning and the boss [Dr Ruto] congratulated me for my victory. I asked him how things were and he told me that this [the presidential contest] is concluded and the people of Kenya had spoken.”
” The boss had come up with a very powerful and formidable network who were informing him of what was going on. He knew of his victory through the Monday morning security report,” Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda told the paper.
According to former Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali, by August 13, two days before the results were announced they knew they were headed for a win following an assessment of the performance of the strongholds and the lead he had maintained from tallied results.
“We noticed that President Ruto was heading for a victory from our own tallying centers. Agents had delivered results from all the polling stations and that is how we knew that it was coming home. Apart from our national tallying center, every region had its own tallying center. Ours was in Kakamega,” the former MP says.
Six hours before the presidential results were announced, Ruto is said to have convened a prayer with his allies before his aide Farouk Kibet asked everyone to proceed to Bomas of Kenya to wait for the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leader.
However, suspicions were flying about at the time that the electoral commission was being coerced into favoring one of the presidential contenders, while others were dubious of IEBC head Wafula Chebukati.
At the time the Azimio camp was uneasy with Raila Odinga’s chief agent Saitabao Ole Kanchory issuing a press conference alleging that the elections had been rigged.
Ruto on the other hand had arrived at Bomas awaiting the announcement by Wafula Chebukati.
“The mood in the Azimio camp shifted from chatty to melancholic with the passing of time as reality began to sink in that their candidate had lost. The Azimio crowd began to thin and some in the squeezed Kenya Kwanza side started taking seats on their side.” Belgut MP Nelson Koech revealed.
Chaos emerged at the National tallying center befire GSU officers calmed the situation. Shortly after 6PM Chebukati walked into the auditorium and announced Ruto as the fifth President.
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