President William Ruto yesterday said the re-election of Members of Parliament in the August 9 election is an indication of the confidence Kenyans have in their leaders.

Consequently, the Head of State said that his support in more counties in the just concluded election compared to 2013 and 2017 signifies the inclusivity of democracy in Kenya.

Ruto attained 25 per cent of the votes in 39 counties as part of the threshold to win the presidential election compared to retired President Uhuru Kenyatta who got 25 per cent of the votes in 35 counties in 2017.

His sentiments came after the 13 Parliament recorded the highest number of Members of the National Assembly re-elected standing at 193 which is 50 more than those elected in 2017 while in the Senate, 17 senators were re-elected.

“In this Parliament, we have the highest elected Members of Parliament at 193 which is 50 more than those re-elected in 2017 while in the Senate, we have 17 senators re-elected. This confirms the confidence of the people of Kenya in their leaders and institutions,” he said.

He added: “The election of various MPs is an indication of the confidence demonstrated to us, Kenyans have set the bar so high and we need to work for them.” Ruto also hailed the election of women serving in single-member constituencies saying this has increased from 23 in the last election to 29 in this year’s election. This, he said, is an indicator of the confidence that Kenyans have in women’s leadership.

“This is the manifestation of the growing confidence of women leadership in our governance. I am hoping that this will grow.”

Data from Mzalendo, an entity that keeps track of MP’s performance says that a total of 76 women were elected to the National Assembly and three others elected to the Senate.

In the 12th Parliament, the National Assembly had 76 women MPs elected and nominated while the Senate had four elected and 16 nominated senators.