Head of Presidential Debates Secretariat Clifford Machoka has announced the 2022 presidential debate will be held on July 26th.
In a statement released on Monday, the secretariat also confirmed the deputy presidential debate will be held on Tuesday, July 19th.
The secretariat has also organized the Nairobi governor candidates’ debates to be held on Monday, July 11th.
All the debates will be held at the Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus situated in Karen, Nairobi, from 5:00 pm to 10:00pm.
According to Machoka, the Nairobi Gubernatorial Debate will proceed in two stages, with the first featuring gubernatorial candidates whose popularity ratings, based on three recent opinion polls, stand below five per cent.
“The second tier will involve candidates who have polled above five per cent in the same opinion surveys. The first debate will run from 6:00pm and end at 7.30pm while the second debate will go on air at 8:00pm and end at 9.30pm,” he added.
Machoka also named the moderator as Serfine Achieng’ Ouma of KBC and Ayub Abdikadir of K24, for the first tier, and Zubeida Koome of KTN News and Mark Masai of NTV for the second tier.
The Debates Chair added that the panel discussions for both debates will be moderated by Waihiga Mwaura of Citizen TV.
He assured that the moderator choice was based on rigorous criteria that was based the principles of impartiality, fairness and objectivity.
Machoka added those selected have a strong understanding of the Kenyan political landscape and the major issues of the election, particularly in Nairobi County.
He insisted the secretariat’s commitment to delivering fair, transparent and accountable debate.
“Under the presidential debates rules, 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 candidates and the candidates.”