NAIROBI : Kenya's deputy president, William Ruto, was declared the winner of the presidential election after defeating Raila Odinga, a longtime member of the opposition. 

Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), who made the announcement on Monday night.  Ruto received 7,176,141 votes, or 50.49 percent of all ballots cast in the election on August 9, beating out Odinga, another former prime minister, who received about 6,942,930 votes, or 48.85 percent. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has presided over the nation for more than ten years, will be succeeded by Ruto, 55.

Protests erupted in various regions of the nation immediately after the declaration of the presidential results, primarily in Odinga's strongholds in western Kenya, the nation's capital Nairobi, and the country's eastern region.

Police in the western city of Kisumu, some locations of Nairobi including Kibera and Mathare slums, engaged Odinga's supporters in running battles to protest the presidential results, alleging irregularities.

Nairobi's core business centre had earlier become empty as a result of a number of stores being hastily closed due to traffic jams leaving the city.

Ruto promised to unite the nation, advance shared progress and prosperity, and extend a hand of goodwill to political adversaries in his winning speech.

Being surrounded by members of his immediate family and political friends, he said, "The people of Kenya have given us a responsibility to execute and I promise to run a transparent, open and democratic administration that serves everyone fairly.

4 of the se7ven members of the electoral commission were absent at the announcement. "We cann't take ownership of the result that is going to be announced because of the opaque nature of this final phase of the general election," said Juliana Cherera, the IEBC vice-chairperson, adding that the e institution had carried the election process in a fair manner until the final part of tallying the results.

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