Four Years Later, Uhuru Says Raila Won Kenya’s 2022 Election

Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he remains convinced that the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election, despite William Ruto being declared the winner and the Supreme Court subsequently upholding the result.

Kenyatta made the remarks on September 22, 2026, while addressing a Jubilee Party National Executive Committee meeting in Nairobi, where he revisited his decision to support Odinga in the August 9, 2022 election.

“We did everything to help Baba become President of the Republic of Kenya. He got the votes, and to this day I know that he is the one who won those votes. We know how things happened, and we do not want it to happen that way again,” Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta also questioned how Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition could have performed strongly in parliamentary and county elections while losing the presidency.

“How can you say we were defeated when we had most of the MPs, governors and senators? How were we defeated in the presidency?” he asked.

However, the official presidential results recorded a different outcome. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared Ruto the winner with 7,176,141 votes, or 50.49%, against Odinga’s 6,942,930 votes, or 48.85%. Ruto’s official margin was 233,211 votes.

Odinga challenged the result at the Supreme Court, but the court unanimously dismissed the petitions challenging Ruto’s victory and upheld his election. Kenyatta later handed over the presidency to Ruto after the court process.

Kenyatta’s latest comments therefore represent his personal account of the 2022 contest rather than a change to the official election result. He did not present new election figures in his remarks that overturn the figures declared by the IEBC.

The former president also rejected criticism that he had failed to support Odinga during the campaign. Referring to himself as Odinga’s “handyman”, Kenyatta said he had done what he could to help his former political ally win the presidency.

The 2022 election remains a major point of political debate in Kenya, particularly as parties and politicians position themselves ahead of the 2027 General Election. Kenyatta’s latest remarks reopen that debate more than four years after the vote and come as he remains active in Jubilee Party politics.

The former president also called for restraint in the political contest ahead, warning against what he described as “dirty politics” and urging politicians to focus on presenting their manifestos rather than dividing Kenyans.