It was his fifth presidential bid. The election of the last chance for this veteran, soft leftist, imprisoned for nine years, several times minister, prime minister but never president. This time, Raina Odinga, 77, head of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya (Coalition for Unity) coalition, is very close to the holy grail he had already thought he had reached during his supposed stolen victory in 2007 for the benefit of Mwai Kibaki. An electoral dispute settled in blood with 1100 dead in post-election violence which had led to a government of national unity with Odinga as Prime Minister.
In 2022, times changed for “Baba”, Odinga’s nickname in Swahili, who had the immense challenge of establishing himself beyond his electoral stronghold in Western Kenya. The historic figure of Kenyan politics has innovated by choosing a woman as running mate. This is Martha Karua, 64, a lawyer by training, former Minister of Justice nicknamed the “iron lady and presidential candidate of 2013. Himself A medical engineer trained in East Germany during the Soviet era, Odinga has campaigned on the themes of fighting corruption, building a reliable healthcare system and promising a free education system. His immediate opponent, 55-year-old billionaire William Ruto, a self-proclaimed “boss boss,” is a former egg seller who has made it through persistence. Ruto’s running mate at the head of his Kenya Kwanza coalition (Kenya first) is a certain Rigathi Gachagua, another great fortune and, above all, former personal assistant to Uhuru Kenyatta (2001-2006) who became a fierce critic of the leader of the ‘State.
The preference of Kenyans seems to lean towards the Raila Odinga -Martha Karua ticket. Indeed, at the beginning of the afternoon of Saturday, Mr. Odinga totaled 52.54% of the votes (2,288,315 votes), against 46.76% (2,036,795 votes) for William Ruto, out of 29.92% polling stations, according to official results broadcast from Nairobi, in the room where the Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) carries out the collection, counting and verification of results. If four candidates were in the running, the election boils down to a duel between Raila Odinga, a historic opposition figure who received the support of Mr. Kenyatta and William Ruto, the outgoing vice-president. This election was marked by a sharp drop in turnout: according to the IEBC around 65% of the 22.1 million voters went to the polls on Tuesday, a sharp drop from the 78% recorded in the August 2017 poll. . Since its independence in 1963, Kenya has been ruled solely by presidents of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin ethnic groups, from which MM. Kenyatta and Ruto. Odinga is a Luo supported by a Kikuyu running mate. Provided that these presidential and parliamentary elections mark a new beginning for the first economy in East Africa.
