Kenya’s newly elected president, William Ruto, will officially take office on Sept. 13, and the inauguration ceremony itself becomes a new national case.
The event, which includes a symbolic transfer of power through the handing over of a sword and a copy of the constitution from outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta to his successor, will be followed by the swearing in of the constitution by William Ruto and then Vice President Rigathi Gachagua.
Controversy has arisen, however, as a result of the new president’s communications office’s decision to give exclusive television broadcasting rights for the event to the broadcaster Multichoice Kenya, claiming that it will provide continental coverage of the inauguration, while local broadcasters were denied the opportunity to participate (https://www.africanews.com/2022/09/12/row-as-kenya-tvs-barred-from-broadcasting-rutos-inauguration/).
Multichoice Kenya Ltd, although participated by Kenya’s state broadcaster, is the subsidiary of a South African television group, and the decision to exclusively entrust a de facto foreign company with coverage of the event has raised several criticisms and protests from local Kenyan broadcasters, who will only be able to rebroadcast live streaming from Multichoice Kenya (https://fr.africanews.com/2022/09/12/kenya-la-couverture-de-linvestiture-de-ruto-confiee-a-un-media-etranger/).
In terms of national politics, however, the defeated challenger in the election, Raila Odinga, said he accepts and respects the Supreme Court’s decision on the appeal filed, although he continues to disapprove the motivation of the decision.
On the afternoon of September 12, then, the long-awaited meeting between outgoing President Kenyatta and his successor Ruto took place, after the latter had irked the press by claiming that he had not had any relationship with the former president for months and recalling the need “sooner or later” to have a meeting with him to arrange the transition of power.
Outgoing President Kenyatta gave a lengthy farewell speech, where he recalled the efforts and successes of his administration and those that preceded him, spending only some few words about Ruto at the end of his speech (https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/what-uhuru-said-after-meeting-ruto-3946228).
On the institutional side, it must be signalled the appointments of Moses Wetangula to the presidency of the National Assembly, and Amason Kingi to the presidency of the Senate. Both are allies of President William Ruto, and the appointment of the top institutional posts with political representatives from the same camp of the president seems likely to provide Ruto with the necessary capacity to face the start of his presidential term (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-08/kenya-s-president-elect-seeks-to-stamp-authority-on-parliament?leadSource=uverify%20wall).
