Uhuru Pledges Smooth Transfer of Power, Congratulates Elected Leaders

President Uhuru Kenyatta has reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring a seamless and peaceful transfer of power to the incoming administration.

In keeping with the promise he made when he took the oath of office to uphold the rule of law and respect judicial decisions, Uhuru stated in a televised speech Monday night that he will respect the Supreme Court decision and hand-over power.

The Apex court upheld the election of William Ruto as the fifth president of Kenya.

“I commit to executing the orders of this court to the latter,” Uhuru said. 

Read: Supreme Court Upholds Ruto’s Election As Kenya’s Fifth President

“It’s my intention to oversee a smooth transition to the next administration and all the necessary orders to facilitate this processes have already been issued,” he added.

Instead of congratulating Dr Ruto, the head of state praised Kenyans for maintaining peace both during the elections and when the result was being challenged in court.

Uhuru urged the people to respect the institutions guiding the transition process while stating that democracy is an ongoing process and that doing so is their civic obligation.

The outgoing head of state also asked Kenyans to scrutinize the same institutions’ performance of their mandate.

Read Also: President Uhuru Makes First Public Appearance Since General Elections

“They must test them for coherence but also for correspondence. They must also scrutinise the coherence given by these institutions and to ask themselves whether the truth has been coherent from one election to another, has there been a consistent pattern that is acceptable to our democratic ethos. We must ask ourselves, is it about numbers or is it about process?” Uhuru posed.

“I do invite you Kenyans to keep vigil and hold all institutions to account,” he said, adding that what the institutions say must correspond with the actual state of affairs.

“This is  the only way we will build our democracy,” he added.

Dr Ruto will be sworn in on September 13 before 2 pm.