Is William Ruto a political genius? How Kenya’s new president took on powerful political dynasties

Описание: Kenya's presidential election was declared won by William Ruto, despite a split within the electoral commission over the declared result, which showed the vice president had received 50.5% of the vote, defeating longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga and narrowly avoiding a runoff.
Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld the victory of Ruto in the election, after ruling on a number of petitions brought by his challenger, Raila Odinga.
Ruto has been accused of hypocrisy for championing the oppressed, or ordinary Kenyans whom he refers to as "hustlers." Ruto's bottom-up economic model was central to his campaign. Its pillars are the dispersal of economic and political opportunities and dignifying the poor. It calls for equity, inclusion, social justice, and fair play. His "hustler nation" movement was fueled by widespread unemployment, poverty, inequalities, and state excesses like extrajudicial executions and rampant corruption.
He was cynically portrayed in newspaper headlines, hashtags, and prime time news and talk shows as the skunk of Kenyan politics, solely associated with vices such as corruption, land grabs, impunity, unbridled ambition, insolence, warlord politics, and ethnic cleansing. He took advantage of this sense of victimhood. Now that Ruto has won the presidency, only time will tell whether their concerns were justified. The Ruto victory has broken the back of Kenya's dynastic dominance in politics and the economy. As he reorganizes Kenya's state and politics, peripheral actors will emerge. It remains to be seen whether Ruto will keep his lofty promises and open up the economy for the benefit of all.