The Presidential Debates Secretariat has announced that the much-awaited presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, July 26.
In a statement dated Monday, July 7, the secretariat announced that the debate will be held at the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) and will be broadcasted live.
Azimio flagbearer Raila Odinga, UDA's William Ruto, Roots Party's George Wajackoyah and Agano's David Mwaure will engage each other and Kenyans on their respective visions for the country.
"We are delighted to announce this year's presidential and deputy presidential debates. All the debates will be held at CUEA main campus in Karen from 5.00 p.m to 10.00 p.m," the statement read in part.
The organisers added that the main debate would be preceded by the Nairobi gubernatorial debate on July 11 and the deputy president nominees' debate on July 19.
Mark Masai (NTV), Zubeidah Koome (KBC), Ayub Abdi (K24), Serfine Achieng' (KTN News) and Citizen TV's and Waihiga Mwaura will moderate the Nairobi gubernatorial debate.
Notably, the organizers of the event refused to disclose the names of the journalists who had been selected to moderate the presidential debate. It also highlighted rules to be followed by the selected moderators and panellists.
"Under the rules of the presidential debates, 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," the secretariat pointed out.
The Nairobi debate will take place in two tiers depending on the candidates ratings in the last three popularity polls. Those with less than five per cent will go first between 6 and 7.00 p.m while the more popular candidates will be slated for 8.00 p.m.
Nonetheless, the unveiling comes amid declaration by two candidates that they would skip the event. Ruto claimed that he would not show up, accusing the media of bias in coverage of presidential candidates.
"Under the current partisan media environment, we have advised our candidate against participating in the presidential debate," Hussein Mohammed stated.
On the other hand Wajackoyah stated that if the two frontrunners do stage a no-show, they he will also abscond the debate, stating that he cannot debate Mwaure alone.
