In the heavyweight fight to govern Kenya, that linchpin of East African modernity, it was William Ruto versus Raila Odinga. The 55-year-old Ruto eked out a contested election victory over 77-year-old Odinga (aka Baba – Swahili for ‘father’) in the August 2022 election by less than two per cent of the vote. Both are veteran politicians in a Kenyan polity long divided by ethnic loyalties.
The presidency has, since independence in 1963, gone either to a candidate from the Kikuyu people – like the previous President Uhuru Kenyatta and his father Jomo – or someone like Ruto from the Kalenjin people. The potential victory of Odinga, a Luo, would have marked a departure for the country, which has 44 ethnic groups. Odinga has now lost five Presidential elections – although this was his best result to date by some margin.
