As early as five in the morning, the Kasarani stadium in Nairobi was full. The police asked people to stay at home and rather follow today’s big happening via the TV. Today is the day William Ruto will be sworn in as Kenya’s next president. Heads of state from around 20 countries had come to Nairobi to take part in the ceremony. From the dock to the presidential residence President Ruto is a controversial type. He has long political experience, is one of Kenya’s leading businessmen, but has also had serious debts thrown at him. – What will be important is that he manages to become a representative for the whole country, and manages to mobilize across ethnic lines, says the Kenyan analyst John Gachie to news. For William Ruto there are some additional challenges in this regard. Ruto’s political history includes, among other things, a dark chapter from 2007. Although Ruto and Raila Odinga were opponents in this year’s elections, they collaborated in 2007. Odinga was the presidential candidate, and Ruto was his vice-presidential candidate. Their campaign still with losses in 2007 Many believe they lost due to extensive electoral fraud, and these allegations led to violence, and especially between different ethnic groups who supported different presidential candidates. Over 1,000 people were killed, and after things had calmed down, Ruto was blamed for acquiring weapons, financing and coordinating groups that carried out deadly violence. William Ruto ended up on the dock in The Hague for his role during the political unrest in 2007. Photo: MICHAEL KOOREN / Reuters Thinks the country has moved on The serious debts led to him having to stand trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But for unknown reasons, several key witnesses suddenly dropped out, and the case was put on hold due to the lack of witnesses. Analyst John Gachie, who has a background as foreign editor at Kenya’s largest newspaper, the Daily Nation, believes that the old court case will perhaps bind Ruto more outside Kenya than in his homeland. – I think the country has in many ways managed to move on. Internationally, he will probably meet several people who want to raise the case, but there are probably few countries who will advocate that the case should be brought up again in the legal system now that he has become president, Gachie believes. William Ruto has the support of approximately half of the Kenyan people. The election result was more even than ever before. Photo: LUIS TATO / AFP But even if exactly what happened in 2007 is in many ways a closed chapter, the Kenyan analyst says that the problem of ethnic dividing lines is still among Ruto’s biggest challenges. – The ceremony today, where the new president was appointed, went well and was a good start. The big question now is who he wants to appoint as ministers in his government, says Gachie. The analyst believes that precisely the appointment of ministers is the first big chance that Ruto has to show that he actually wants to create unity and cooperation across the whole of Kenya. Asking Kenya’s people to work hard Precisely creating more unity has been a point for Ruto in the time since the election. He has tried to present himself as a unifying leader, saying that he wants to be president for all Kenyans. He has also said that Kenya now needs every man on deck. And this is what the new president says, knowing full well what economic challenges Kenya is facing. – I would like to ask the people of Kenya to work hard in the times that lie ahead of us. We have no other choice, said the brand new vice-president, Rigathi Gachagua, during today’s ceremony where he and President Ruto took over the leadership of Kenya. – The truth is that we have inherited an economy that is in ruins, and we are almost facing a total shutdown of the economy, said the vice-president, thus putting much of the blame on the government of outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta. He himself started by selling chicken at a train stop near his childhood home, before he made an enormous fortune as a businessman. Enormous national debt creates a problem Like most Kenyans, analyst John Gachie is also concerned that the economy is so bad. Gachie fears that the new president may have promised voters too much. – To put it as it is: The new president is balancing on a very tight line whether he is to both keep what he has promised the people, and at the same time deal with the situation as it is on the ground, says Gachie. Ruto has made several big and important promises which have resonated with people, and which have helped to secure him a narrow victory in a very close election. In particular, it is his way of thinking about building the economy from the bottom up that has received the most attention. A nice motorway recently opened in Nairobi. But it has had its price, and is one of the many reasons why Kenya’s debt has increased in recent years. Photo: THOMAS MUKOYA / Reuters The new president wants a so-called “bottom-up” economy where the focus is on creating many small jobs in the primary industries, which in turn will get more people into work, and strengthen the economy from the bottom up. But the challenges are many. – Although Kenya is the strongest economy in East Africa, the country is in a critical debt situation. Ruto has said that he will try to bring down the price of basic goods, but at the same time the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank say that Kenya must subsidiarily cut oil, gas and other goods if they are to get help, says Gachie. The debt problem has almost tripled in less than ten years. Figures from the central bank of Kenya show that the country, under the previous government, has gone from approximately NOK 243 billion in debt in 2013, to around NOK 700 billion last year. Roads and railways have been built, but many of the investments have created debt, and when there is also inflation in the world, most people in Kenya know that the economy will be tight going forward. Freedom of the press under pressure? A final point that Gachie highlighted, and which may change under Ruto, is the freedom of the media and organizational life. Gachie has good contacts in Kenya’s media industry, and there he notices that several people are uneasy. – Many in the media industry are uneasy. There are some signs that some of those who have now gained a lot of power are quite upset and angry at the media, says Gachie. Ruto, for his part, has said that journalists and others should not fear anything, and that he thinks freedom of the press is both important and right. But the media can quickly receive criticism from the new head of state. – When I criticize the media, it is because I have faith in the media, and I want them to do the right thing, Ruto told the TV channel KBC a few weeks ago.
ttn-69
William Ruto has taken over power in East Africa’s largest economy – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
