EDITORIAL: Ruto’s win in Kenya is the start of a break with ethnic politics
Many Kikuyu voted overwhelmingly for him in a welcome sign that policy trumped tribal loyalty
For those who have been vaguely following Kenyan elections over the years, it would have probably been a foregone conclusion that longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga will be the next president. Except, he is not.
Odinga had the endorsement of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is from the country’s largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, which has supplied all of Kenya’s presidents since independence. He fell short at his fifth attempt at ascending to Kenya’s highest office, pipped to the post by former ally and deputy president for the past decade William Ruto, who is from the smaller Kalenjin ethnic group in the Rift Valley that has produced most of Kenya’s famous distance runners. ..
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