The Presidential Debates Secretariat has announced the journalists who will moderate the Presidential Debate on Tuesday, July 26.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, July 21, the first debate will be moderated by Smriti Vidyarthi of NTV and Ken Mijungu of KTN News and will feature George Wajackoyah of Roots Party and David Mwaure of Agano Party.
The second part of the debate will be moderated by Yvonne Okwara of Citizen TV and Eric Latiff of Spice FM and KTN News, and will feature Raila Odinga of Azimio la Umoja and Deputy President William Ruto of Kenya Kwanza.
NTV’s Joe Ageyo will moderate the panel discussions for both debates.
“The moderators have been selected based on a rigorous criteria that abides to among other things the principles of
impartiality, fairness and objectivity, a strong understanding of the Kenyan political landscape and the major issues of this election,” secretariat stated.
The interviews are segmented based on the popularity of the presidential candidates as determined by recent polls.
Wajackoyah and Mwaure received less than 5% of the vote, while Raila and Ruto received more than 5%.
“We reiterate that under the Presidential Debates Guidelines, 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 the candidates,” the debate organisers maintained.
The debate will be held at the main campus of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Karen, Nairobi.
Okwara and Ageyo return to the panel after moderating the 2017 Presidential debate.
