NAIROBI, Kenya July 26 – Agano Party presidential candidate David Mwaure stood alone during the presidential debate held Tuesday, after his Roots party counterpart Professor George Wajackoyah walked out.
Wajackoyah had demanded to have all the four candidates including Raila Odinga (Azimio), William Ruto (United Democratic Alliance (UDA) debate on the same podium, dismissing the organisers’ guidelines that divided it into two tiers.
Wacjakoyah was paired with Mwaure for polling less than 5 per cent popularity while Raila and Ruto was to debate with Raila due to their high popularity.
Also read:
The media must be fair and stop this bias. I will not take part unless I am on the same podium with all the candidates,” Wajackoyah said before he walked out of the Catholic University, the venue of the presidential debate in Nairobi, Karen.
Under rules governing the joint media presidential debate, candidates with more than 5 percent popularity rating will be paired together while those below will face each other.
This leaves Odinga and Ruto to debate on the same platform while Wajackoyah is supposed to face Mwaure.
“Who conducted that poll, why is the media out to decide the fate of this election,” Wajackoyah said.
So far, Raila has said he will boycott the debate and has instead organised his own town hall meeting set for Thursday, saying he can’t face Ruto.
Ruto was set to take the podium alone from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, with Raila announcing that he will hold a town hall meeting on Thursday.
About The Author
