The 2022 Kenyan election between William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza coalition and Raila Odinga's Azimio la Umoja was unusual in Kenyan electoral history. Rather than being fought primarily on ethnic lines, it was framed as a class conflict. Ruto positioned himself as the hustler, the son of a chicken seller who had risen through his own effort.
Odinga was backed by the outgoing president and was cast as the choice of dynasties and the establishment. Ordinary Kenyans, particularly the youth, responded to the hustler narrative. Ruto won.
Whether his presidency delivered on that promise is the story Kenya is still living.