NAIROBI, Kenya July 26 – Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah maintains that he will not attend Tuesday’s presidential debate unless he shares a podium with all the candidates.
The party’s Spokesperson Wilson Muirani confirmed that Wajackoyah will not attend the debate “because we will not subject the incoming president to the joke of an already predetermined debate”.
Wajackoyah’s unavailability in the debate from the onset was clear ostensibly after he on Sunday threatened to boycott it if his demands are not met.
In his protest demand letter, Wajackoyah complained that the organizers of the debate had discriminated him.
“The media cannot decide the outcome of an election before the poll day. The notion that some candidates are trailing others, or some leading others is baseless. We refuse to be counted as others in this important democratic duty of seeking the presidency,” Muirani said.
The controversial presidential contender who is keen on succeeding President Uhuru Kenyatta in the high-stake August polls demanded that he should be paired with Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Presidential candidate Raila Odinga and Kenya Kwanza’s William Ruto for him to attend.
“We sent an official letter to the presidential debate team, and we are yet to receive official communication on how the concerns we raised were addressed,” Muirani said.
Raila has also boycotted the tier two debate where he was to debate with Ruto.
In the tier one debate, Wajackoyah was scheduled to face off with Agano Party’s presidential candidate Waihiga Mwaure.
According to the organizers, Wajackoyah and Mwaure were paired after they polled less than 5 percent in the three recent opinion polls.
Wajackoyah who has hinged his presidential bid on legalizing bhang and snake farming faulted the pollsters noted that his approval rating among the electorate is much higher.
“We look forward to our candidate attending the debate once our concerns are well addressed and our candidate matched in the right platform for the debate,” Wajackoyah’s campaign secretariat said.
In the event Wajackoyah makes good on his threat and fails to honor the invite, Mwaure will have an entire ninety minutes to himself to the disadvantage of Wajackoyah whose unpopular agenda continues to be criticized by all quarters.
Wajackoyah and Mwaure have in the past been embroiled in a war of words after the latter described the former’s agenda as “demonic”.
The tier one debate to be moderated by Smirti Vidyarthi of NTV and Ken Mijungu of KTN News was scheduled to start at 6.00pm (EAT).
Wajackoya’s running mate Justina Wamae attended the deputy presidential debate where she engaged with her Agano counterpart Ruth Mucheru.
