Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has on Tuesday 16, August 2022 congratulated Dr. William Samoei Ruto upon his election as the 5th President of Kenya.
Dr. Ruto was declared the winner of the hotly contested election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of Kenya last evening amidst chaos and controversy after 4 of the 7 electoral commissioners disowned the results over what they termed as ‘opaque’ last processes in the compilation of result.
According to results released by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, Dr. Ruto won the race with 7,076,064 votes representing 50.53 per cent against former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s 6,833,896 votes representing 48.80 per cent of the total votes cast.
Mr Odinga has already rejected the results as rigged and is expected to speak to the Kenyans and the world at large on what is going to be his next course of action.
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In a statement released on Tuesday 16 morning, Mr Museveni said Uganda is willing to work closely with Kenya to advance their mutual interests, as well as partner to advance the regional and continental agenda through the East African Community, the African Union and other multilateral platforms.
“Further to my telephone call last night upon your victory, I wish to reassure you of Uganda’s commitment to continue partnering with Kenya in advancing regional and continental agenda through the East African Community, African Union and other multilateral platforms. Our bilateral cooperation will score tremendous achievements and I look forward to working more closely with you,” President Museveni’s letter reads in part.
Mr Museveni and Dr. Ruto have over the years enjoyed the camaraderie that has seen Ruto campaign for Museveni’s re-election. In fact, Dr. Ruto’s close association with Museveni was used by the Mr Odinga camp to decampaign him, saying he was stealing from Kenya to invest in Uganda.