President William Ruto has described the 2022 general election as the most peaceful in the multi-party era and one that ended personality politics.
The President, who delivered his speech during the Madaraka Day national celebrations in Embu, said it was an election which Kenyans finally achieved their freedom.
''In the last General Election, the people of Kenya finally broke free,'' Ruto said of the hotly contested outcome in which he was declared the winner.
Ruto said that, for the first time in the country's history, the campaign was conducted purely on the basis of important national issues, foremost of which were economic issues.
''Not only did Kenyans reject the old divisive politics of tribe and tribal chiefs, but they also demanded and interrogated well-considered party manifestos with detailed plans for economic transformation,'' he said.
He said the elections were a testimony to the wonderful ways in which Kenyans have stewarded political freedom into democratic maturity.
Ruto said the polls also highlighted the enhanced economic freedom that has been realised through empowering enterprise and expanded social freedom by securing dignity.
''As a result, although the election was closely contested, it was the most peaceful in the multi-party era,'' he said.
The President said that until then, the country’s politics was a divisive, violent, do-or-die affair by which neighbours, colleagues and even relatives were incited into hatred in the name of political competition.
''In this dark era, the tribe was the fundamental term of all political engagement and the master variable of democratic contest,'' he said.
''Many highly respected experts and eminent persons confidently affirmed that Kenyan politics is inherently tribal, and many leaders designed their political parties, policies and campaigns on the basis of raw tribal appeals.''
Ruto insisted that before the last election leaders also made sure that political discourse revolved around personalities and the private interests of a few privileged individuals, and not the aspirations of the majority.
Some, he said, used political parties as personal vehicles to access the high table where important decisions were made, and exploited their ethnic constituencies to negotiate a bigger share of public resources as well as positions of power and privilege in the service of private ends.
Ruto said that, for decades, Kenyans understood that the perverse political culture not only defiled democracy, but also obstructed the spirit of daring and achievement, arresting the country's collective progress.
''The people of Kenya therefore yearned for freedom from the tyranny of political personality cults, toxic tribal discourse and the violence they engendered,'' he said.
''They desired a more unifying, cosmopolitan framework of engagement which promoted the expression of their shared aspirations, encouraged inclusive negotiation and a collective means of pursuing them.''
The President said that after the last election, the public discourse and political discussion and the agenda of social debate has changed for good.
He said substantive policy issues continue to define the national conversation well beyond the election.
