It is election season in Kenya. As election campaigns entered their final stretch, political tensions reached a fever pitch. The political rhetoric and language employed during this electioneering year have raised the political temperatures in the country leading to concerns of political violence during and after the election results are announced.

Most recently, Deputy President William Ruto, who was a leading candidate in the presidential race, accused Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta of trying to assassinate him. This comes against the backdrop of Kenyatta supporting the opposition candidate and former Prime Minister Kenya Raila Odinga to succeed him in office. The president and his deputy have been at loggerheads politically for the last three years, leading to a dysfunctional government, economic decline and inflation that has raised the cost of living for the majority of Kenyans.

On Aug. 9, Kenyans went to the polling stations and voted in one of Kenya’s most gruesomely contested political races. But will this election initiate Kenya’s third liberation as many anticipate? Nevertheless, this year’s elections will have historical consequences for Kenyan politics as they will shift and redefine the country’s political landscape.

Raila Odinga’s last attempt

Odinga, the man Kenyans of all political leanings endearingly called "Baba," vied for the presidency for the last time. And if he won, he would have become Kenya’s first ethnic Luo president and hence bring to an end the political hegemony of the Kikuyus and Kalenjins, two of Kenya’s most populous ethnic groups.

Odinga has become the face and a hallmark of opposition politics in Kenya. He has vied for the presidency in the elections of 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and finally this year. This was his last chance to clinch the presidency.

Central to Odinga’s election manifest are issues of social justice, universal health coverage for all Kenyans and a monthly stipend of 6,000 Kenyan shillings ($50) for all household living under financial constraints. In his campaign rallies across the country, Odinga promised to usher in Kenya’s third liberation, an economic liberation for all Kenyans. The first liberation was from colonial rule in 1963 and the second liberation was in 1991 when Kenya ended one-party rule and adopted multiparty politics. However, delivering on these election promises under a dwindling economy and an entrenched corrupt governance system would have been a huge challenge.

Ruto’s anti-dynasty narrative

The other frontrunner in this election was Deputy President William Ruto. Ruto totally changed the election narrative with his populist "hustler" versus "dynasty" framing of politics in Kenya. He argues that Kenya has one fundamental problem: state capture and misappropriation of national wealth by the Kenyatta and Odinga families and their scions. How the dynastic political families of Kenya’s founding leaders have strangulated the majority of Kenyans, who he calls low-income "hustlers," was preached in Ruto’s political rallies.

Ruto’s populist "hustler" narrative has resonated with the majority of Kenyans. His election campaigns across the country have become emblematic with pictures and videos of mammoth crowds who cheer for him and jeer the Kenyattas and Odingas. His election manifesto will go down in Kenya’s history as one of the most comprehensive and well-articulated electoral manifestos. Nevertheless, how to materialize those promises was not well thought out.

Ruto portrays himself as a man from a humble background contrary to his arch-political rivals Odinga and Kenyatta. Indeed, William Ruto rose from humble beginnings; but in the course of his political career since the 1990s, he has amassed both wealth and influence. He is loathed, feared and admired in the Kenyan political arena as a staunch and pragmatist political strategist.

The Mount Kenya factor

It is no secret that the majority of Kenyans vote along tribal factions. This has been a stumbling block for democracy not only in Kenya but in Africa as a continent. It is an indicator that the post-colonial states have not grown into proper nations. Tribal and ethnic identities are more powerful and appealing than citizenship and nationality unfortunately.

For those who watch Kenyan politics closely, the tectonic tribal configuration of Kenyan politics have not changed that much. Tribal regional blocks and stronghold backyards of different political parties are still intact.

However, this year’s election outcome was decided by the vote-rich Mount Kenya region – a region that is not fronting a presidential candidate for the first time in Kenya’s history. The region’s 5 million registered voters were set to determine the presidential race. More crucially, Kenyatta’s decision to support opposition leader Odinga has created confusion and controversy in his own Mount Kenya constituency. Ruto has and commands huge support in the Mount Kenya region it seems.

Youth political apathy

Kenya has one of the youngest populations in the world: 35 million of the 48 million total population are under the age of 35 years. Yet, despite the highly contested election campaigns, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) lamented in a report that youth voter registration was at its lowest level historically.

The Kenyan youth's political apathy is an epiphenomenon of a broken political system. The young and the youthful have no faith that politics and elections will change their lives for the better. While political tensions in the country are high amongst the political elites and factions, it was anticipated that voter turnout could be the lowest – and among the youth even dismal.

In a country where corruption is systemic and upward economic mobility is almost negligible, many expect no change will occur in the post-electoral period.

In the final analysis, Kenyans want to enjoy peace and stability as much as the political class contests the elections bitterly. We will see if Kenya has exorcized itself of this perennial post-electoral violence that haunts the country each election cycle as the "hustler" and the allied scions' moment of truth beckon.