Uhuru Kenyatta

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, born 26 October 1961, is a Kenyan politician who served as Kenya's fourth president from 9 April 2013 to 13 September 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he comes from the Kikuyu community and built his career through the Kenya African National Union (KANU) before co-founding the Jubilee Alliance and later the Jubilee Party.

Kenyatta first ran for president in 2002, losing to Mwai Kibaki. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the post-2008 power-sharing government. His 2013 presidential bid was conducted while he faced charges at the International Criminal Court relating to violence after Kenya's 2007 election; the ICC Prosecutor withdrew the charges against him in December 2014, citing insufficient evidence and lack of cooperation from the Kenyan government. He chose William Ruto, who faced parallel ICC charges, as his running mate.

Kenyatta won the 2013 election against Raila Odinga. His 2017 re-election was annulled by Kenya's Supreme Court in September 2017 — the first such annulment in African history — citing irregularities in the electoral process. He won the subsequent October 2017 re-run, which Odinga boycotted. In March 2018, Kenyatta and Odinga staged the "Handshake," a political reconciliation that reshaped Kenyan politics and sidelined his deputy Ruto.

His presidency emphasized large infrastructure projects, notably the Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway, and the "Big Four Agenda" covering manufacturing, housing, healthcare, and food security. Critics pointed to ballooning public debt and corruption scandals. Constitutionally barred from a third term, he backed Odinga in the 2022 election; Ruto defeated Odinga and succeeded him.

Since leaving office, Kenyatta has taken on regional diplomatic roles, including serving as the East African Community-appointed facilitator for peace talks concerning the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.