Nairobi governor candidates to start off debates today
Usawa Agenda Executive Director Emmanuel Manyasa, Kenya Editors Guild President Churchill Otieno and Media Owners Association Chairman Stephen Gitagama during the signing of the Presidential Debate 2022 partnership in Nairobi on June 9, 2022..
The presidential debate series begins at Catholic University of Eastern Africa main campus today, with the Nairobi governor candidates expected to face off at 5pm.
The debate is expected to be attended by all city governor candidates.
The Presidential Debate Secretariat said the candidates had confirmed their participation by July 4.
More than 90 per cent of voters are expected to follow the debate, according to Mr Stephen Gitagama, the Media Owners Association Chairman and Nation Media Group Chief Executive Officer.
The deputy governor candidates and the presidential debate will be on July 19 and 26 respectively.
The debate comes days after the secretariat called on Kenyans to submit questions and concerns that they would want responded to.
The Nairobi governor race debate is the first of its kind in the country.
Its inspiration, according to the secretariat, was informed by an overwhelming interest from the public and the need to ensure more accountability at county level.
Mr Gitagama expressed hope that viewers would engage with the candidates positively.
“Candidates to take part in the debates will be selected based on their performance in opinion polls. Those who ranked below five per cent will be in a different category from those who have scored above the percentage,” Mr Gitagama said.
“We are interested in candidates who have a high chance of winning as we believe the quality of debates will be better with fewer candidates. We therefore expect a vibrant and higher quality debate than we had in the past.”
Media Council of Kenya Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo said the secretariat would ensure the debates are issue-based to allow Kenyans make sound decisions and vote for leaders that will address their concerns.
Mr Omwoyo also said debates need to be held often to allow citizens to hold their leaders to account.
Following the signing of a partnership between the Presidential Debate Secretariat and the Digital Publishers Association of Kenya, Mr Omwoyo said digital teams would ensure conversations happen online and offline in order to reach everyone in the country and the diaspora.
Civil society organisations have asked Kenyans to take advantage of the opportunity to interrogate manifestos and budgetary allocations, and be wary of those who do not show up for debates.
Kenyans, the organisations sasaid, should also hold leaders accountable for their past promises, as well as share ideas on how to make the country better.
Kenyans are urged to send their questions for the two next debates on the secretariat’s website debates.co.ke, through 0796560560, SMS code 22843, or to [email protected].
