Kenya is barreling toward a highly contentious and likely tumultuous presidential election that could alter the future of the country’s political system. Kenya will hold general elections on Aug. 9, where voters will elect the president, members of the National Assembly and Senate, and various county positions. But the presidential ballot, in particular, is shaping up to be a highly contested race, with two political insiders as the frontrunners: Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto (the former ally and now adversary of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta) and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga (who has become one of Kenyatta’s closest allies in recent years). Ruto is running under the slogan “hustler nation” in an attempt to paint himself as an average Kenyan who achieved great success by working his way up the political ladder. Odinga, meanwhile, is running on decades of political experience and a social welfare platform that he says will...
