NAIROBI, Kenya- Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has maintained that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election, saying Jubilee Party must help prevent a repeat of what he described as a disputed outcome.
Speaking at Jubilee Party headquarters during the handover of the party’s leadership to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, Kenyatta said his administration had done everything possible to support Odinga’s presidential campaign.
“Tulifanya kila kitu kumsaidia Baba awe Rais wa Jamhuri yetu ya Kenya. Na kura akapata, na mimi mpaka wa leo najua ya kwamba yeye ndiye alishinda hiyo kura,” Kenyatta said.
“We did everything to help Baba become President of Kenya. He received the votes, and to this day, I know that he won that election.”
Kenyatta added: “Tunajua vile mambo ilienda, na hatutaki iende hivyo tena,” loosely translated as: “We know how things went, and we do not want that to happen again.”
The former president’s position differs from the official result declared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, which showed President William Ruto winning with 7,176,141 votes against Odinga’s 6,942,930.
Odinga and other petitioners challenged the result, but the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions and upheld Ruto’s election.
Kenyatta said he would remain in Jubilee as a senior adviser while Matiang’i takes charge of preparing the party for the 2027 General Election.
“I will be a senior adviser in Jubilee, then my younger brother climbs up, takes the leadership, so we can organise the work for 2027,” he said.
The former president also defended his support for Matiang’i, citing his performance in government and ability to serve Kenyans beyond ethnic considerations.
“If you are appointed a Cabinet Secretary or Principal Secretary and employ only people from your community, what does that say?” Kenyatta asked.
“Were you appointed because of your tribe, or were you appointed to serve Kenya? That is why I support someone like Matiang’i. He was given a job and went on to serve Kenyans.”
Kenyatta also criticised the political messaging used against his administration ahead of the 2022 election, particularly the “hustler versus dynasty” campaign.
He said politicians had promised to defend ordinary citizens from leaders branded as dynasties but challenged Kenyans to assess who now represented the two groups.
“Today, I ask myself: who are the real hustlers and who are the dynasties? You will answer that for yourselves,” Kenyatta said.
