Raila Odinga, the Azimio presidential candidate, has made it known that he may not show up for Tuesday’s debate.
In a statement by his spokesman Makau Mutua, the coalition noted that having the candidates- DP William Ruto and Raila- on the same platform this year would be a bad idea.
Mutua asserted that Ruto had expressed his concerns to the moderators, asking them to avoid emphasizing the topics of integrity and corruption, which Azimio wanted to be the main topics of discussion.
“Our opponent has no regard for ethics, public morals or shame, that is why he has demanded that the debate not focus on corruption, integrity, ethic and governance- the key existential question that Kenya faces. These issues sit at the core of the Azimio campaign. Any debate devoid of these questions will be an insult to the intelligence of Kenyans,” he said.
“That is why we do not intend to share a national podium with a person who lacks decency. As is well known, our opponent traversed the country hurling epithets at us and other key national leaders, including vile, sexists attack.”
According to Prof. Mutua, Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua instead intend to host a televised town hall to explain the Azimio agenda to Kenyans.
“We plan to take part in a televised town hall at Jericho Social Hall in Nairobi’s Eastlands with ordinary Kenyans to offer our solutions to the challenges facing the country and common people,” he said.
The conditions for Raila’s participation in the upcoming presidential debate with UDA’s Ruto were set forth by his allies on Friday.
According to them, the former prime minister will only attend the debate if important topics, such as integrity, will be covered.
“There are some people who are saying that we do a debate between Baba and Ruto. Is that possible?” Azimio secretary general Junet Mohamed asked.
“Baba will only attend that debate, and that is my opinion if they will talk about three issues only,” he added.
The ODM leader will only attend the event if he is certain they will discuss integrity, corruption, and governance, according to Junet, a close ally of Raila.
“If we are going to talk about meaningless things the way we saw with Rigathi Gachagua, me as the secretary general of Azimio, I will send Babu Owino to deal with William Ruto,” he said.
The Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CUEA) will host the presidential debate from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
The debate will be moderated by five esteemed journalists.
They are Joe Ageyo (NTV), Smriti Vidyarthi (NTV), Ken Mijungu (KTN News), Yvonne Okwara (Citizen TV), and Eric Latiff (Spice FM & KTN News).
