The United States sending a strong delegation sends a message it is ready for strong relations with the new president to work together to advance mutual interests.
It wants to see whether both sides — Kenya and the US — can agree on what they have in common. This is a good message of support for the incoming President William Ruto.
The 2022 general election represents a sea change compared with the 2013 and 2017 polls.
In 2017, there was acrimony. It did not go as smoothly as it should have, as the presidential dispute forced the Supreme Court to arbitrate and subsequently nullify it.
That was not on account of the votes cast but on the procedure and other challenges.
While President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto won the repeat election, it was still disputable as Raila Odinga refused to participate. This was a source of tension and sent the wrong message to the outside world.
This time around, it went well as far as Kenyans and observers were concerned.
While it was a narrow victory for Ruto, it was a victory that was recognised everywhere, so this is another way of saying we observed and are assured Ruto is the legitimate president.
After the IEBC declared the results and the court upheld Ruto's election, there appears to be no major source of tension. Despite grumblings here and there, the country is not prepared for major discord.
The good signals Ruto is receiving now indicate he is going to enjoy a relatively smooth path in navigating his journey and that will be beneficial to the nation.
With the good team of advisers on his side, he now must attend to the priorities of and what is good for the Kenyan people, not what other people's interests are.
Ruto will now have to use this opportunity, goodwill and position to engage other foreign powers all over the world and discuss issues from a positions of strength to accomplish what is good for the people of Kenya.
University lecturer spoke to the Star
(Edited by V. Graham)
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