The inauguration took place in Kasarani Stadium, Kenya’s largest sporting venue, located in northern Nairobi. The 60,000-seat arena was packed with attendees, ranging from regional heads of state and other dignitaries to everyday Kenyans. Many wore the bright yellow of Ruto’s party, the United Democratic Alliance, and many more waved Kenya’s black, red, and green flag with a Massai shield.
Tens of thousands of people joined regional heads of state at a packed 60,000-seat stadium in Nairobi to watch him take the oath of office, with many spectators clad in the bright yellow of Ruto's party, cheering loudly and waving Kenyan flags.
"I will work with all Kenyans irrespective of who they voted for," Ruto pledged. His election victory had to be certified by the Kenyan Supreme Court after his election rival, Raila Odinga, challenged the veracity of the results.
"In this process we have demonstrated the maturity of our democracy, the robustness of our institutions and the resilience of the Kenyan people,” he added.
African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who attended the ceremony, hailed the peaceful transition.
“I was privileged to witness today, alongside other African leaders, another peaceful transfer of power in Kenya, an enduring feature of the country's political maturity, with Unity as its shield and defender,” he said on Twitter. “Hongera H.E. President William S. Ruto. Hongera Kenya,” he added, using the Swahili word for “congratulations.”
Like many other governments around the globe, from the United Kingdom to nearby Tanzania, Ruto outlined how his administration will protect Kenyans from rising inflation. The Kenyan Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday that inflation in the East African state was 8.5% last month - the highest it’s been in five years.
He pledged to address youth unemployment, support farmers struggling with a historic drought, and to stabilize the country’s finances, including its large amount of debt, most of which is owed to the World Bank, Eurobond holders, and China. Ruto also announced what he called a $415 million “hustler fund” to support small business owners.
Ruto has played up his own “hustler” past as part of his appeal to the common citizen, emphasizing that he sold chickens on the side of the road while growing up in Kenya’s Rift Valley, near the Ugandan border. As a young man, he entered politics by supporting President Daniel arap Moi in his successful electoral campaign after yielding his dictatorial powers to a democratic process, and he continued to rise by astutely picking the right side to back in subsequent political horse-trading that has become a regular feature of Kenyan democracy.
"Today, I want to thank God, because a village boy has become the president of Kenya,” he said at his inauguration. Ruto has also emphasized his Christian faith, and dropped to his knees to pray during the Tuesday inauguration.
Ruto has also pledged to continue Kenyatta’s policies of promoting regional stability and security, including cooperating with the United States in fighting Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda* affiliate terrorizing the countryside in nearby Somalia.
*A terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.