Museveni congratulates William Ruto upon his victory

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has this morning congratulated William Samoei Ruto upon his election as the 5th president of Kenya.

Ruto was declared the winner of the hotly contested election by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission-IEBC of Kenya last evening. According to results released by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, Ruto won the race with 7,076,064 votes representing 50.53 per cent against Odinga’s 6,833,896 votes representing 48.80 per cent of the total votes cast.

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. To strengthen his position, even four out of the seven IEBC commissioners refused to validate the results arguing that the process leading to them was opaque.

But in a statement released this morning, Museveni said Uganda is willing to work closely with Kenya to advance their mutual interests, as well as partnering 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,” Museveni’s letter reads in part.

Museveni and Ruto have over the years enjoyed the camaraderie that has seen Ruto campaign for Museveni’s re-election.

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