The Presidential Debates Secretariat has announced that the 2022 presidential debate will be held on the 26th of this month.
The much-awaited debate will be held at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus in Karen, Nairobi, from 5pm to 10pm.
Head of the debate secretariat Clifford Machoka confirmed the date as the deputy presidential debate is slated for 19th of July.
The presidential debate will have four candidates if Deputy president and UDA Presidential aspirant William Ruto confirms attendance.
The UDA party had early last month raised issues of media bias and threatened to pull out of the debate.
Other candidates who have confirmed attendance include Azimio la Umoja- One Kenya Alliance’s Raila Odinga, Roots party candidate George Wajackoya and Agano party’s David Mwaure Waihiga.
The Nairobi Gubernatorial Debate will be conducted in two tiers on Monday, July 11, 2022.
The first tier, which will feature candidates whose popularity ratings, based on the three recent opinion polls, stand below 5%, while the second tier will involve candidates who have polled above 5% in the same opinion surveys.Tthe first debate will run from 6pm and end at 7:30pm, while the second debate will air from 8pm to 9:30pm.
According to the secretariat, the first tier will be moderated by Serfine Achieng’ Ouma of KBC and Ayub Abdikadir of K24.
The second tier debate will be moderated by KTN News’ Zubeida Koome and NTV’s Mark Masai. Panel discussions for both debates will be moderated by Waihiga Mwaura of Citizen TV.
The secretariat says, the moderators have been selected based on rigorous criteria that, among other things, endear the principles of impartiality, fairness and objectivity, a strong understanding of the Kenyan political landscape, and the major issues of this election, particularly in Nairobi County.
The moderators, according to Machoka, have been tasked to select the questions to be asked and should not share them with the candidates. They have been ordered to not meet any candidates or even their campaign teams.
The Presidential Debate Secretariat is a joint organ of Media Owners Association, the Media Council of Kenya and the Kenya Editors’s Guild.