海角大神

William Ruto was sworn in as Kenya鈥檚 president on Tuesday after narrowly winning the Aug. 9 election in East Africa鈥檚 most stable democracy, and quickly signaled that his leadership would be a strongly 海角大神 one.

The Supreme Court last week rejected a challenge by losing candidate and longtime opposition figure Raila Odinga to the official results, completing a markedly peaceful election.

The 55-year-old Mr. Ruto had been the deputy to outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta but had a bitter split with Mr. Kenyatta that left the two not speaking for months at a time. On Tuesday, the audience cheered as the men shook hands, and again as Mr. Kenyatta handed over the instruments of power.

鈥淭here should be no revenge,鈥� Bishop Mark Kariuki thundered at Tuesday鈥檚 ceremony, wearing a deep purple stole embroidered 鈥淧EACE.鈥�

Mr. Ruto, who had dropped to his knees in tears and prayer when the court upheld his win, knelt on the stage minutes after his swearing-in during an extended sermon. 鈥淎 chicken seller to a president,鈥� intoned the pastor, highlighting Mr. Ruto鈥檚 humble youth.

Mr. Ruto鈥檚 first tweet quoted Psalms: 鈥淭his is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.鈥�

The peaceful transfer of authority will burnish Kenya鈥檚 democratic credentials in a region where some leaders have held power for decades.

Mr. Ruto is taking power in a country heavily burdened by debt that will challenge his efforts to fulfill sweeping campaign promises made to Kenya鈥檚 poor.

Nairobi鈥檚 60,000-seat Kasarani Sports Center was packed with Ruto supporters wearing his party鈥檚 colors of yellow and green. They danced and waved miniature national flags to the strains of a band.

鈥淗e is our fellow youth! I know he will bring us more opportunity,鈥� said dancer Juma Dominic as he and his troupe warmed up.

The event began with some chaos. Scores of people were injured as they forced their way into the packed stadium. A medic said a fence fell down after people pushed it and about 60 were injured, though the number may rise. There were no reports of deaths.

With the transition, Kenya鈥檚 presidency moves from one leader indicted by the International Criminal Court to another. Both Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Ruto were indicted over their roles in deadly 2007 post-election violence, but the cases were later closed amid allegations of witness intimidation.

The August election was calm in a country with a history of political violence. Chaos erupted only in the final minutes when the electoral commission publicly split and prominent Odinga supporters tried to physically stop the declaration of Mr. Ruto as the winner.

Mr. Ruto鈥檚 campaign had portrayed him as a 鈥渉ustler鈥� with a humble background of going barefoot and selling chickens by the roadside, a counterpoint to the political dynasties represented by Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga. His presidential flag features a wheelbarrow, the symbol of his campaign.

But Mr. Ruto received powerful political mentoring as a young man from former President Daniel arap Moi, who oversaw a one-party state for years before Kenyans successfully pushed for multiparty elections.

Mr. Ruto now speaks of democracy and has vowed there will be no retaliation against dissenting voices.

The losing candidate, Mr. Odinga, is setting himself up to be a prominent one. In a statement on Monday, he said he would skip the inauguration and later will 鈥渁nnounce next steps as we seek to deepen and strengthen our democracy.鈥�

Though Mr. Odinga also asserted that 鈥渢he outcome of the election remains indeterminate,鈥� a spokesman told The Associated Press it was 鈥渉ighly unlikely鈥� he would seek to declare himself the 鈥減eople鈥檚 president鈥� as he did after losing the 2017 election.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Moses Ndungu contributed to this report.听Material from Reuters was also included in this report with reporting by George Obulutsa.听