Kenya

Deputy President William Ruto will not attend the running mates debate on grounds he was never consulted on the matter.

Eliud Muthiora Kariara is the only presidential running mate that showed up for the debate on Monday evening. He is a running mate for Dr. Japheth Kavinga who is eyeing the presidency in the August 2017 elections.

Even though the tradition of presidential debates is yet to be fully institutionalised in Kenya, the momentum gained from the successful events ahead of the 2013 elections should help to entrench this as a tradition with a follow-up this year.

Six presidential candidates have threatened to pull out of the TV debate terming the process set to kick off this Monday discriminatory.

Six candidates on Sunday said they will not participate in the presidential debates if organisers pursue a two-tier approach that excludes them.

Apart from Mr Ruto and his National Super Alliance (Nasa) counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka, other running mates are Mr Moses Marango for Mr Joseph Nyaga, Mr Titus N’getuny (Mr Abduba Dida), Mr Emmanuel Nzai (Dr Ekuru Aukot) Ms Miriam Mutua (Mr Michael Wainaina) and Mr Eliud Kariara (Mr Japheth Kavinga).

The deputy president earlier described his learning of the debate schedule as having received a news alert that running mates will debate each other, and he seemed not to be sure if this was true.

In effect, a serious introspection on the part of the media, and a discussion of the issue of trust is important as we approach the 8 August election. In the context of the presidential debates, we may ask ourselves: Are the organisers ‘conmen’? Whose agendas do they seek to advance or push via the

It is all systems go as eight presidential running mates are expected to face off with one another at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Karen on Monday.

If Ruto misses the debate scheduled for Monday, July 17, from 7.30pm at Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), it will be a big blow for the Debates Media Limited the organisers who are still grappling with the uncertainty of the main presidential debate that was postponed to Monday, July 24.

Yvonne Okwara, Joe Ageyo, both of KTN and Linus Kaikai of NTV have been officially named as the journalists who will moderate the anticipated debate.

Common wisdom states that debates rarely sway the audience from their preferred choice but in a country like Kenya, they provide the closest thing to a level playing field for aspirants who lack the clout to enjoy dedicated media coverage.