Gloria Orwoba: Raila Odinga lost 2022 election fair and square

Former Senator Gloria Orwoba, who campaigned for William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket in Kenya’s 2022 presidential election, has defended the outcome of the vote. Orwoba, who served as an agent during the election and remained involved in the subsequent legal challenge by the late Raila Odinga and his Azimio la Umoja coalition, stated that she believes Ruto’s victory was legitimate.

She said that her experience during the voting process and the subsequent recounting of ballots convinced her that the declared results were accurate. Orwoba recounted watching ballot boxes being recounted in court, where she observed that the results matched those in the Forms 34A. She rejected claims that Odinga was denied victory in 2022, noting that the Azimio candidate lost by a small margin of 200,000 votes.

The official results showed Ruto winning with 7,176,141 votes to Odinga’s 6,942,930. However, the Supreme Court subsequently dismissed all petitions challenging the election results, upholding Ruto’s victory. Orwoba’s stance is based on her firsthand account, while other political figures, like retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, still believe Odinga won.