Deputy President William Ruto and Kalonzo Musyoka Skip Running Mates Debate

The second running mates' debate that was to begin at 8 pm on Monday evening was called off after Deputy President William Ruto and National Super Alliance's (NASA) Kalonzo Musyoka failed to show up.

DP Ruto and Musyoka had earlier on stated that they would not attend the event.

Ruto had been campaigning at the Coast with President Uhuru Kenyatta for the better part of the day while Kalonzo was out of the country.

Kikuyu MP Kimani Wa Ichung'wa, who was to represent DP Ruto was blocked from accessing the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) auditorium as he is not a running mate.

During the first presidential running mates' debate, Mr Emmanuel Nzai  —  the running mate of Dr Ekuru Aukot (Thirdway Alliance Kenya)  — and Mirim Mutua, who is a running mate to Independent Candidate Professor Michael Wainaina, were also denied access to the auditorium after they arrived late for the debate.

Presidential Candidate Japheth Kavinga’s running mate Eliud Kariara, however, showed up and had 90 minutes to himself in the event that was aired on all major TV stations.

Kariara is in the banking sector and his areas of interest include Forex trading, Equities, Corporate Finance and Private Equity.

Eight running mates had been invited to participate in the debate that was organized by Debates Media Ltd.