Moderators place Ruto between a rock and a hard place during debate
Politics
By
Winfrey Owino and Betty Njeru
| Jul 26, 2022
UDA candidate William Ruto during the presidential debate. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]
The 2022 Presidential Debate held at the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) main campus in Karen, Nairobi has just ended.
United Democratic Alliance presidential candidate William Ruto was the only candidate who took part in the second tier of the debate, after his main rival, Raila Odinga, of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition skipped.
Alone, the DP would for the next ninety minutes be taken to task over Kenya’s debt, economy, integrity, food security, national security, cost of living, and governance.
He once again hinted that he was sidelined in the discharge of his duties during his and President Uhuru Kenyatta's second term, owing to the emergence of the March 2018 handshake and BBI initiative.
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There were also mixed reactions from netizens over the debate’s moderation.
The second part of the debate was moderated by KTN’s Eric Latiff and Citizen TV’s Yvonne Okwara, while the first tier was moderated by NTV’s Smriti Vidyarthi and KTN News’s Ken Mijungu.
Ruto arrived in the company of his wife, children, and relatives as well as his political allies.
An hour to his arrival, his running mate Rigathi Gachagua was at the debate's venue awaiting to receive him.
Gachagua was in the company of Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss Sholei. Gatundu South MP was also spotted.
Prior to the DP's arrival at half past 7.00, Agano Party presidential candidate David Mwaure debated alone.
This was after his Roots party counterpart Prof George Wajackoyah boycotted the debate.
Wajackoyah demanded to debate all candidates in the presidential race on the same podium.
When his request was denied, the Roots party leader and his team stormed out of the venue in protest.
Minutes later, Wajackoyah and his running mate Justina Wamae claimed in a joint statement that their request had been turned down.
Azimio la Umoja candidate Raila Odinga was a no-show. His campaign secretariat opted out of the debate on Sunday.