NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 18 – Kenyans are waiting with bated breath for the Deputy Presidential debate slated for Tuesday.
The debate will involve four candidates who are battling it out for the deputy president slot on joint presidential tickets among them Martha Karua (Azimio la Umoja One-Kenya Alliance), Rigathi Gachagua (UDA Party)Ruth Mucheru Mutua (Agano Party) and Justina Wambui (Roots Party).
A statement from the Presidential Debate Secretariat stated that the debate will be held in two tiers, starting at 5pm with candidates whose popularity rating based on three recent opinion polls is less than 5 percent.
It will be followed by candidates with above 5percent popularity rating who will face-off each from 7pm to 10pm.
“Under the presidential debate rules, the moderators will select the questions to be asked and shall not share the same with candidates,” said Clifford Machoka, Head of the Presidential Debate Secretariat.
Citizen TV’s Trevor Ombija will moderate the pre-debate and post debate analysis from 5 pm.
Linda Alela of TV47 and John Jacob Kioria of KBC will moderate the first tier debate while KTN’s Sophia Wanuna will moderate the second debate together with NTV’s James Smart.
The first tier debate will be held from 6:00pm to 7.30pm while the second tire debate will run from 8 pm to 10 pm.
Both debates will be held at the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) where the Nairobi gubernatorial debate was held on Monday.
Head of the Presidential Debate Secretariat Clifford Machoka stated that invitations have been sent to all the candidates.
The main presidential debate will be held next Tuesday.
The debate is organized jointly by the Media Owners of Kenya (MOK), Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG).
Organizers of the debate have urged all candidates to participate in the debate so as to enable Kenyans understand their agenda.
The plea came even as Deputy President William Ruto vowed to keep off the debate accusing the media of bias.
But a new survey by the Media Council of Kenya shows that Ruto now enjoys more media coverage at 46 per cent than his main competitor Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya who got 45 per cent in the past week.
A previous report by MCK had indicated that Ruto was not getting as much coverage as Odinga, in what the Deputy President said force him to keep off from the presidential debate.
This will be the third televised presidential debate in the country, the first being in 2013.
In the 2017 presidential debate, President Uhuru Kenyatta kept off but it still went on.