Read full transcript of President Elect William Ruto victory speech delivered at Bomas of Kenya on 15th August 2022, after being declared president elect by IEBC. Dr Ruto garnered 7,176,141 votes representing 50.49 percent of the final vote, beating his main challenger Raila Odinga who received 6,942,930 votes (48.85 percent). Dr Ruto also meet the constitutional threshold to be declared president elect having gathered of 50% + 1 of valid votes cast and at least 25% of valid votes cast in 39 counties, thereby surpassing the constitutional threshold that requires a presidential candidate to get 25% of the valid votes cast for the president in at least 24 counties.
Full Transcript: President Elect William Ruto Victory Speech
[Applause]
Thank you, Thank you very much. Asanteni sana.
Your excellencies, ambassadors and high commissioners present.
Your lordships the bishops,
and members of the clergy, in the Republic of Kenya
My good deputy Rigathi Gachagua
Distinguished members of the independent electoral and boundaries commission led by chairman Wafula Chebukati
Fellow countrymen and women
Good evening.
It is a wonderful evening, and I want to thank God that we are here this evening to witness this momentous occasion as the people of Kenya restate what is in article one of the constitution of Kenya that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya.
I want to thank God for getting us to this point. I want to thank God that today we have concluded this election.
[Applause]
I know that there were predictions that I won’t get to the ballot; there were predictions that we won’t get here, but because there is a God in heaven, we are here and I want to in a very special way say and confess that without god we wouldn’t have been here.
[Applause]
My gratitude also goes to the people of Kenya; the millions who listen to us, the millions who participated in our campaigns, peacefully; the millions who turned up to vote for us on 9th of August, and the millions who have waited patiently until this announcement has been made.
Specifically I want to thank my fellow countrymen and women because we have raised the bar in this election. Jointly we have raised the bar. This election was much about the issues than the ethnic configurations that have always informed our elections. Gratitude goes to the millions of Kenyans who refused to be boxed into tribal cocoons. I am a very proud Kenyan this evening that the people of Kenya have raised the bar on us who are seeking leadership in our country – not to sell our ethnicities but to sell our programs, our manifestos, our agenda and our plan.
Let me also say right at the start that in here and in this election, there are no losers.
[Applause]
The people of Kenya have won because we have raised the political bar. I want to say that the people of Kenya, led by the 14 million who turned up to vote are the biggest winners. The hero of this election is the IEBC
[Applause]
led by Wafula Chebukati.
[Applause]
I say this with conviction that the IEBC amazed all of us with the results in the public portal; all the servers were open and everybody, all you needed is a simple calculator and you would have the results.
I want to congratulate the IEBC for raising the bar [applause] and I want to say without fear of any contradiction that one Wafula Chebukati is our hero.
[Applause]
Soft-spoken, but firm, and I want to tell you Mr Chairman we are very proud that, without informing any one of us, you put all the results from all the polling stations on a public portal where any Kenyan could access; that became the game changer in this election.
[Applause]
Let me also at this point in time thank our partners, the religious leaders, who were part of this process right from the beginning. For the first time we saw religious leaders spend time at the tallying center, and prayed for this process; I am sure their prayers will not be in vain.
[Applause]
I also want to thank our development partners, our diplomatic community and all the observers who came in their thousands to be part and parcel of the process right from almost two weeks ago, to its conclusion in this auditorium. To all of them, I tell them the people of Kenya are eternally grateful that you took your time, valuable time, to watch over this process so that the right thing can happen.
I want to thank my worthy competitor the honorable Raila Odinga
[Applause]
for a campaign that we all dwelt on issues and we try to sell an agenda to the people of Kenya.
I want to promise that I will work with all elected leaders and all leaders in Kenya so that we can fashion a country that leaves nobody behind.
[Applause]
What the people of Kenya have done they have assigned us responsibilities; there will be those of us who will be in the executive, but there will be those of us who will oversee what we do in the executive. Both responsibilities in government and in the opposition are important for the people of Kenya.
[Applause]
I want to promise the people of Kenya that I will run a transparent, open, democratic government.
[Applause]
and I will work with the opposition to the extent that they provide oversight over my administration
[Applause]
Let me also at this point in time acknowledge my boss the President of the Republic of Kenya
[Applause]
His excellency Uhuru Kenyatta who has worked with me over the last 10 years in various forms; and I want to commit to the people of Kenya that I will build on the foundation that President Kenyatta and I put together and take this country to the next level.
I want to promise all the people of Kenya whichever way they voted that this will be their government. I know many are wondering – especially those who have done many things against us – I want to tell them that they have nothing to fear. There is no room – there is nothing – there is no room for vengeance. There is no room for looking back; we are looking into the future. I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck to move it forward. We do not have the luxury to look back. We do not have the luxury to point fingers, we do not have the luxury to apportion blame. We must close ranks, and work together for a functioning democratic, prosperous Kenya.
[Applause]
I want to thank the members of my team (pause) starting with my wife and family
[Applause]
and many other prayer warriors in Kenya; and I want to confess that I have been prayed into victory.
[Applause]
It is not our effort, and my team knows, we were working against the odds, many odds at that, but I must confess that it is God who brought us this victory. I do not want to mention the many people, many friends, who have been part and parcel of this journey; many people have paid huge sacrifices for us to get here. I want to promise them that their sacrifice will not be in vain
[Applause]
I will, my team and I, will work very hard to make sure that we don’t let the sacrifices made by many Kenyans, we don’t let them down. I am very confident that this country will come together and we can move forward as one united democratic and prosperous country.
I want to ask our religious leaders from across Kenya to pray for us and to pray for the unity and prosperity of our country. I would not want to say more than that because I will be making other statements in the course of time; but let me say to all of you thank you very much for being here this evening to witness this very historic democratic occasion that moves our country to the next level
and let me thank my very able deputy Rigathi Gachagua for the sacrifice and the commitment he has demonstrated and the hard work he has put in together with all our teams Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetangula, J.B Muturi, Mr. (Alfred) Mutua, Amason Kingi and all…. let me not go down that road because I will disappoint some people because that list is very long especially the men and women members of parliament who are elected with us in Jubilee and they have paid a heavy price for us to get here, ladies and gentlemen – waheshimiwa, let me say I owe you. You are great people the sacrifices you made, withstanding the many incidences of blackmail and threats I want to tell you, you have earned your place in the history of Kenya; because today we’re going to form a government together to serve the people of Kenya so with those many remarks let me say to all the people of Kenya, I give you my word that I will work hard to make sure that this nation moves to the next level [Applause], is united and is prosperous.
Asanteni sana.
[Applause]
Thank You.