Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s declaration that he still believes the late Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election has reopened a bitter political dispute, putting him on a collision course with President William Ruto’s camp and forcing ODM to confront fresh questions about the events surrounding the disputed election.
Mr Kenyatta’s intervention has triggered a fresh exchange between the former president, President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), leaders who worked with Mr Odinga and members of the late opposition chief’s family, with the 2022 election once again becoming a fault line as parties prepare for the 2027 General Election.
Speaking at Jubilee Party headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday, Mr Kenyatta said he remained convinced that Mr Odinga had won the election.
“We did everything to help Baba become the 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,” Mr Kenyatta said.
Uhuru: Raila won the 2022 election, we know how things went down
He questioned how the political formation supporting Mr Odinga could have performed strongly in parliamentary and gubernatorial elections but failed to secure the presidency.
The intervention has put Mr Kenyatta at the centre of a renewed debate over the events surrounding the August 9, 2022 election, despite the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declaring Dr Ruto the winner with 7,176,141 votes (50.49 per cent), against Mr Odinga’s 6,942,930 votes (48.85 per cent).
The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the consolidated petitions challenging the presidential result on September 5, 2022, upholding Dr Ruto’s election.
It is this gap between the constitutional record and Mr Kenyatta’s personal conviction that has now become the centre of the political argument.
“If he was convinced that Raila Odinga had won, why did his government facilitate the transfer of the instruments of power to a person he believed had not won?” Dr Oginga asked.
For ODM, Dr Oginga said, the issue was not simply whether Mr Kenyatta believed Mr Odinga had won but why the former president was revisiting the matter almost four years after the election.
The party, he said, had exhausted the constitutional avenues available to challenge the result and decided to move on.
“However, after exhausting the constitutional avenues available to us, we chose to let the matter rest and move the country forward,” Dr Oginga said.
ODM party leader Dr Oburu Oginga.
Photo credit: Pool
He argued that Mr Kenyatta’s latest remarks had touched a sensitive issue among ODM supporters who had backed Mr Odinga in the 2022 contest.
The ODM leader posed questions over why Mr Kenyatta had not made the claim publicly when the election dispute was still before the country, why his administration facilitated the transition and what Kenyans were expected to do with the information now.
“These are not academic questions. Elections concern the sovereign will of the people and the legitimacy of government,” Dr Oginga said.
He also recalled the political sacrifices and compromises ODM made after the 2018 Handshake between Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga.
The Handshake transformed the relationship between the two former political rivals and produced the Building Bridges Initiative, while also reshaping the 2022 political contest.
Dr Oginga said ODM had made significant concessions in the interest of national unity, including giving up its push for certain elective positions as the coalition supporting Mr Odinga’s presidential bid took shape.
The party, he said, had made those compromises in good faith.
He warned against turning Mr Odinga’s political legacy and the sacrifices of his supporters into a campaign tool.
“The 2022 election and the sacrifices of our departed Party Leader must not be reduced to material for contemporary vote-winning propaganda,” Dr Oginga said.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks after relinquishing his leadership of the Jubilee Party during a handover ceremony at the party headquarters in Nairobi on September 22, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
Mr Kenyatta, however, used his Jubilee address to push back against suggestions that he had not done enough for Mr Odinga.
He recalled his role in the 2022 campaign and questioned the framing of the election as a personal defeat for him.
“When they say they beat me, is it me who was on the ballot or Raila Odinga?” Mr Kenyatta asked.
Mr Kenyatta also defended his record in government, citing programmes such as Kazi Mtaani, infrastructure projects, health initiatives and efforts to reduce the cost of doing business.
Speaking in Siaya on September 15, Dr Ruto questioned whether Mr Kenyatta could defeat him politically after failing to do so while serving as president.
“So, Uhuru Kenyatta did not defeat me when he was President, and now I am the President, and he is retired — is he going to defeat me?” Dr Ruto asked.
The President also accused Mr Kenyatta of abandoning the statesman’s role associated with retired presidents and suggested that he was sponsoring opposition leaders against him in next year’s election.
“I am telling Orengo to leave the outfit called Linda Sponsors or Linda Sponyo and join me in this development journey and build hospitals,” Dr Ruto said during the Siaya visit.
The President’s response to the former president’s latest statement has consequently become part of a wider political exchange in which the two former allies are once again positioned on opposing sides.
Then President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto display their certificates at the Bomas of Kenya on October 30, 2017 following their election victory.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Dr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta won the 2013 and 2017 elections together before their political relationship deteriorated after the 2018 Handshake and the subsequent realignment that culminated in the 2022 contest.
UDA Secretary-General Hassan Omar led the ruling party’s response, rejecting Mr Kenyatta’s account and maintaining that Dr Ruto had won the election.
“President William Ruto won the 2022 election decisively and conclusively,” Mr Omar said.
Mr Omar accused Mr Kenyatta of failing to accept the outcome and alleged that the former president had used State machinery in an attempt to influence the election.
UDA also referred to alleged threats against then-IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati and events at the Bomas of Kenya during the tallying period. Those were political allegations made by UDA in its statement and were not accompanied in the statement by new evidence.
Mr Omar also sought to turn the political history between Mr Kenyatta and Dr Ruto against the former president, arguing that Dr Ruto had played a central role in the Jubilee victories of 2013 and 2017.
“He owes his two terms to President William Ruto,” Mr Omar said.
United Democratic Alliance (UDA) secretary general Hassan Omar speaks to the media at the party headquarters in Nairobi on May 14, 2026.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has gone further, extending the dispute beyond 2022 to the previous two presidential elections in which he partnered with Mr Odinga.
Speaking in Kitui, Mr Musyoka said he believed the Raila-led side won the 2013 and 2017 contests as well as the 2022 election.
“Raila aliibiwa. Mimi naamini 2013 tulishinda... 2017 tukarudi pale tena, tukashinda, tena hatukushinda,” Mr Musyoka said.
Mr Musyoka was Mr Odinga’s running mate in both 2013 and 2017 and therefore directly participated in those presidential contests.
“In 2027 haitakuwa hivyo tena. IEBC must ensure there is no rigging in 2027,” he said.
His remarks have consequently widened the current debate from the 2022 result to Kenya’s broader history of disputed presidential elections.
The Supreme Court had nullified the 2017 presidential election after Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka challenged the result. A fresh election was subsequently held in which the two leaders kept off.
The 2013 presidential election, however, was upheld by the Supreme Court after a petition challenging Mr Kenyatta’s election.
Omondi Oginga, the late Mr Odinga’s younger brother, criticised the former president for reopening the issue after the death of the former ODM leader.
“The former President (Uhuru) should not play cat-and-mouse game with us. We are not happy with whatever happened and there's no need for him to talk about the results that happened four years back,” Mr Oginga said.
He questioned why Mr Kenyatta, who was president at the time, did not do more to protect what the family considers to have been Mr Odinga’s victory.
“He was in power, he had all the authority and he didn't use it well. So there's no need for him to respond about last election. Raila is gone; we're not happy as a family. Let him give us a break,” he said.
From left: Then-Azimio bigwigs Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, the late Raila Odinga, and former President Uhuru Kenyatta during an Interdenominational prayer service for victims of police brutality at SKM Centre in Karen on July 28, 2023.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Umoja
Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina also challenged Mr Kenyatta to explain why he is making the claim now.
“You were the President. You were Commander-in-Chief. You controlled the State. You handed over power. The IEBC declared it. The Supreme Court upheld it. So why the hell are you telling us now that Raila won?” Mr Ole Kina said.
He questioned why the former president had not made the assertion when the election dispute was still active.
“If you knew the truth in 2022, you should have said it then, not four years later when it is convenient for your politics,” he said.
In Kisumu, the former president’s comments have divided opinion, with some youth leaders accusing him of reopening a political wound while others continue to regard the 2022 result as disputed.
Bovince Ochieng, an aspirant for Kisumu Central parliamentary seat, said Mr Kenyatta should explain why he handed over power to Dr Ruto if he doubted the election outcome.
“The remarks by former President Uhuru Kenyatta were uncalled for. As a region we feel lied to and that is why we are asking why he handed over the instruments of power to President Ruto during the swearing-in ceremony if he truly had doubts on the election outcome,” Mr Ochieng said.
He argued that Nyanza had moved beyond the 2022 election and was focusing on development under the current administration.
Student leader Shadrack Otieno similarly questioned why Mr Kenyatta had not campaigned more extensively for Mr Odinga in the Mt Kenya region.
“Why did Uhuru not go with Raila to campaign in Mount Kenya even for a single while Raila went with the late Mwai Kibaki everywhere including Nyanza?” Mr Otieno asked.
The 2007 election between President Mwai Kibaki and Mr Odinga produced a disputed outcome that triggered deadly post-election violence and eventually led to the 2008 National Accord and power-sharing arrangement.
