NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 4- Kenya’s presidential debate will be held on July 19 and 26, the presidential debate secretariat announced on Monday.
On July 19, it will be that of the Deputy Presidential candidates.
The focus will be on Martha Karua, the Azimio la Umoja running mate, and Rigathi Gachagua of Kenya Kwanza.
Karua is deputizing Raila Odinga while Gachagua is Deputy President William Ruto’s running mate.
DP Ruto has since expressed his reservations owing to what he termed as open bias by certain players within the media industry.
The Presidential debate shall be held on July 26. The leading presidential candidates are DP Ruto and former Prime Minister, Odinga.
“Under the presidential debates rules, the moderators will select the questions to be asked, and shall not share the same with the candidates. They will not meet with any of the campaign teams or candidates and the candidates,” reads the statement.
Once again, we wish to reiterate our commitment to delivering a debate founded on the principles of fairness, integrity, independence and accountability as enshrined in the Presidential Debates Guidelines.”
All the debates will be held at the Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus situated in Karen.
“In addition to the traditional presidential and deputy presidential debates, we wish to inform the public, that this year we will also have a Gubernatorial Debate for the County of Nairobi. This is in recognition of the central place held by devolution in our governance and the growing need to ensure greater accountability at the county level,” the organizers said.
The Nairobi Gubernatorial Debate will proceed in two tiers.
The first tier will feature gubernatorial candidates whose popularity ratings, based on three recent opinion polls, stand below 5 percent, while the second tier will involve candidates who have polled above 5 percent in the same opinion surveys.
The first debate will run from 6:00pm and end at 7.30pm while the second debate will go on air at 8:00pm and end at 9.30pm.
Journalists who shall moderate the Nairobi gubernatorial debate have since been identified and announced.
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