Kenya's president-elect William Ruto swears

Ruto took oath of Office as dictated in Article 141 of the Kenyan Constitution, taking over leadership from outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Some 2,500 VIPs, and 20 heads of state have graced the occasion. This comes a week after the Supreme Court upheld his win, sinking the hopes of the nation's most prominent political families (Ondinga and Kenyatta) and handed power to a man who began his career as a roadside chicken seller.

Ruto, who served as deputy president for the past 10 years, takes over at a time of surging food and fuel prices, high unemployment and rising public debt.

Kenyans started pouring into the 60,000-seater stadium as early as 5:00am to witness the historic event.

The order of events went as follows:

10:00 am: All guests and members of the public are seated at the Kasarani Sports Complex.

10:30 am: Service Commanders (heads of Kenya Army, Kenya Navy and Kenya Airforce) arrive.

10:45 am: Invited Heads of State and governments arrive.

11:00 am: Chief of Defence Forces, General Kibochi, arrives

11:05 am: Chief Justice Martha Koome and Chief Registrar Anne Amadi as well as Supreme Court judges arrive.

11:30 am: Guard of Honour marches to position.

11:35 am: Deputy President-elect Rigathi Gachagua arrive.

11:40 am: President-elect William Ruto arrives.

11:45 am: President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives, received by General Kibochi and escorted to the ceremonial Land-Rover to enter the stadium. After the National Anthem, Uhuru will inspect the Guard of Honour.

12:10 pm: Anne Amadi, the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary administers the oaths to Ruto and Gachagua. She takes to the podium and invite CJ Koome who will serve as a witness.

The Chief Justice introduces Ruto and Gachagua who takes their oaths.

President Uhuru handed over the Instruments of Power and Authority to Ruto.

The National Police Service had tweeted that the stadium was full by 5 a.m. and asked citizens to stay home, but crowds continued to try to force their way inside. The St John's Ambulance Service said it had taken several injured people to hospital.

Ruto has been deputy to President Uhuru Kenyatta since 2013, but they fell out after the 2017 election. Kenyatta backed opposition leader Raila Odinga to succeed him in the August election and denounced Ruto as unfit for office.

Kenyatta finally publicly congratulated Ruto on the eve of his inauguration.

"You will be president not just for those who voted for you but for all Kenyans," he said.

Ruto is a 55-year-old former roadside chicken seller, who is now a wealthy businessman, campaigned by portraying himself as an underdog hustler battling the elite. Odinga and Kenyatta are the sons of the nation's first vice president and president respectively.