2022 Kenyan Presidential Election in Mount Kenya Region

2022 Kenyan Presidential Election in Mount Kenya Region

9 August 2022
Registered	5,333,488[1]
Turnout	75.6% (4,034,624)
Nominee William Ruto Raila Odinga Party UDA Azimio la Umoja Popular vote 2,908,539 809,166 Percentage 78.23% 21.77%
Constituency-level results in Mount Kenya region   William Ruto   Raila Odinga
President before election Uhuru Kenyatta Jubilee Party Elected President William Ruto UDA

The Mount Kenya region played a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of Kenya's 2022 presidential election. Comprising 10 ten counties, it had approximately 5.3 million registered voters which is about 27% of Kenya's national registered voters.William Ruto won largely in the region with 2,908,539 votes (78.23%), outstripping Raila Odinga’s 809,166 votes (21.77%).^[2] Ruto's strongest performance was in Tharaka-Nithi (89.18 %), and even in traditionally more competitive Nakuru, he secured 65.90% against Odinga's 32.69%. Turnout ranged from 65.0% in Laikipia to 89.0% in Nyandarua—figures comparable to 2017's high of 85% in core counties. This overwhelming bloc support, delivering nearly 3 million votes, was crucial in tipping the national result in Ruto's favor.^[3]

The Mount Kenya region has historically played a significant role in shaping Kenya's electoral outcomes due to its large voter population and economic influence. Since the advent of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, the region has consistently demonstrated strong bloc voting tendencies, often rallying behind candidates with ethnic or political affiliations to the Kikuyu community—the dominant ethnic group in the area. In the 1992 and 1997 general elections, the region was largely aligned with the Democratic Party under Mwai Kibaki, who hailed from the area. This trend intensified during the 2002 election when Kibaki secured a landslide victory through the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), backed overwhelmingly by Mount Kenya voters. In subsequent elections, particularly in 2007, 2013, and 2017, the region remained steadfast in support of Kibaki's successor, Uhuru Kenyatta, consolidating its reputation as a politically cohesive voting bloc.

Despite the unified support seen in previous elections, the 2022 general election marked a notable shift in the region's political dynamics. The absence of a dominant local presidential candidate led to an unprecedented fragmentation in voter behavior. While a significant portion of the electorate supported William Ruto of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), others leaned towards Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja coalition, reflecting growing generational and ideological differences within the electorate. Though Ruto ultimately garnered a majority in the region, the reduced margin of victory compared to previous elections signaled a waning of traditional ethnic-based voting patterns and suggested an evolving political consciousness among Mount Kenya voters.

William Ruto won largely in Mount Kenya East region Especially in Tharaka-Nithi County and Embu County , while Raila Odinga secured most of his votes in Mount Kenya west due to diversity and Urbanization.^[2]

• 2022 Kenyan general election
• Mount Kenya region
• William Ruto
• Raila Odinga
• Politics of Kenya