President Museveni congratulates Kenya's President-elect William Ruto

“On behalf of all Ugandans, I congratulate Your Excellency @WilliamsRuto upon your election as the 5th President of the Republic of Kenya,” tweeted Museveni.

“Further to my telephone call last night upon your victory, I wish to reassure you of Uganda’s commitment to continue partnering with Kenya in advancing regional and continental agenda through the East African Community, African Union and other multilateral platforms,” Museveni added.

Deputy President Ruto was declared the winner of Kenya's presidential election in a closely contested race which could have gone either way.

He narrowly beat his closest rival, Raila Odinga, taking 50.5% of the vote, according to the official results.

President Museveni and President Ruto Pulse

Delayed announcement

Ruto’s win was not announced immediately, it was delayed amid much jostling and allegations of vote-rigging by Odinga's campaign team.

To compound matters, four of the seven members of the Electoral Commission refused to endorse the result, saying it was "opaque".

"We cannot take ownership of the result that is going to be announced because of the opaque nature of this last phase of the general election," said Juliana Cherera, the vice-chairperson of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

"We are going to give a comprehensive statement... and again we urge Kenyans to keep calm," she added.

Irregularities

Odinga's campaign team pointed out "irregularities" and "mismanagement" in the election.

Ruto, 55, was running for president for the first time. He has served as deputy president since 2013 before he fell out with President Uhuru Kenyatta, who backed Odinga to succeed him.

Odinga, 77, got 48.8% of the vote and was running for the presidency for the fifth time.