The 2022 Presidential Debates organisers have assured all presidential candidates fair coverage in the media after holding meetings with Deputy President William Ruto's campaign team.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, June 9, Churchill Otieno, the President of Kenya Editors Guild, revealed that the steering committee had formed a team of editors from various media houses to ensure that all the candidates get equitable coverage.
Otieno noted that all the candidates deserve equitable airtime as they sell their respective agenda to the electorate and Kenyans in general.
"We have shared guidelines on how the debates will be run including the candidate that complained. We did write to them in April and we asked them to share with us their expectations. We had two meetings with that campaign team to ensure that we have on board what their expectations are.
"That team of editors will be leading the content aspects of the debate. As they do that, they will stand on very clear pillars - the ethics of journalism in Kenya. Most importantly, they are keen to ensure that every candidate gets equitable coverage to ensure that their manifestos can get to Kenyans," stated Otieno.
Otieno maintained that the media will continue engaging with the presidential candidates to ensure that their concerns are addressed before the debates scheduled for July.
"This year, the media has gone to great lengths to make sure that the debates are a professional platform whose only interest is to enable Kenyans to access credible and accurate information from the candidates."
On his part, Stephen Gitagama, who was representing media owners, urged the candidates to seize the opportunity offered by the debates, stating that they will reach many Kenyans through the debates.
"It is a platform that reaches Kenyans, one that you will never get during this campaign period. I want to reiterate that this is not a radio station or media house. It is the 2022 Presidential Debates and nothing else," he stated.
However, the organisers did not reveal whether the DP will attend the debate as he had issued conditions to be met before attending the July debates.
Digital Strategist Dennis Itumbi on June 3, stated that the DP would only attend the debate if select media houses did not produce a moderator.
“Royal Media Services stations led by Citizen TV, Kameme Radio of Mediamax Network, and Nation Newspaper cannot produce a moderator,” Itumbi stated.
