Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni on Wednesday evening, October 24, walked out of a live TV interview following a heated exchange with Dadaab MP Farah Maalim.
Kioni refused to debate Maalim following his alleged remarks earlier in the year that he would have slaughtered 5,000 Gen-Zs daily if he were president.
“When you say you are going to kill 5,000 Gen-Zs in this country, don’t tell me that the over 5 million Gen-Zs we have are so daft that we don’t have Somalis within them that can be able to interpret that statement correctly,” Kioni said.
When Maalim fired back at Kioni accusing him of deviating from discussing substantive issues, the Jubilee SG stated that he would only debate with someone who respects Kenyans.
“It is my business to ensure that any debate I’m engaging in, I’m engaging in a debate with people who have respect for Kenyans,” he said.
At this point, the reporter moderating the debate had interjected several times in support of Maalim, forcing Kioni to express his dissatisfaction with her decision to pair him with the Dadaab MP.
“I’m taking offense that you are putting me on the same table with a person who wants to kill 5,000 GenZs and there is no way he can escape from it. I’m your friend and I came here because you invited me, and I asked you clearly, ‘who is it that I’m going to debate with?’ If you had told me it’s Farah, I would have respectfully told you, ‘until I’m able to reconcile myself with his intentions of killing 5,000 GenZs, I’m unable to debate with him,'” Kioni said.
As Maalim tried to defend himself, Kioni stood, picked up his items from the table, and walked out of the interview.
