NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 27 – Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential Campaign Spokesman Professor Makau Mutua says Tuesday’s presidential debate that saw William Ruto of Kenya Kwanza debate alone was “ineffectual.”
In his post reaction, Mutua noted “I am told he turned out to be a paper tiger. An empty suit,” he posted on his Twitter handle.
Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga was to debate Ruto in the second-tier debate but the former Prime Minister boycotted.
“I’d have hoped that my competitor would have been here. Unfortunately, and it is understandable, there’s only one plan in this election: the Kenya Kwanza plan, the other side has sketches and that is why they are not here,” Ruto said.
Odinga cited Ruto’s “tainted character” as the reason for skipping the debate.
In the debate, Ruto who fielded questions from moderators enumerated his agenda for the country if elected President in the August high-stake polls slated for August 9.
Ruto was quizzed on issues of agriculture, economy, and debt, constitution, and governance.
“We are the only side that has a plan on fighting corruption, conflict of interest, and state capture. The other side (Azimio) are actually hostages. They’re sponsored by people who perpetuate conflict of interest and they missed this debate so as not to offend their sponsors,” he said.
Odinga has made the battle against graft one of the main themes of his campaign, while Ruto has been accused of corruption in a case since last year.
Asked to respond to these allegations, the deputy president replied: “any piece of land that I have is legally acquired.”
“I propose in my manifesto to deal firmly, squarely, institutionally with the fight against corruption,” he added.
Ruto also defended his track record saying he had done enough under a difficult political environment to discharge his mandate in line with his oath of office.
He also pledged to formulate a policy on the two-thirds gender rule within 90 days and ensure the required threshold is attained within a year.
Ruto said he had assembled legal experts to propose policy interventions that may not necessarily require constitutional changes to implement.
“The fact that we do not have as many women leaders is a negative for us. There’s something we’re losing; the women leadership component that is not in our arithmetic is taking away from us,” he said.
Odinga was on Thursday expected to hold his televised town hall meeting in Jericho, Nairobi where he was scheduled to counter Ruto’s input in the debate.
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