Raila and Karua: We are ready for the presidential debate

Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua are looking forward to attending the presidential debate slated to take place sometime in July.

Speaking in a joint TV interview alongside Odinga on Tuesday evening, Karua noted that they are eagerly awaiting the political debate since it will offer them a public platform to sell their agenda to Kenyans so close to the August election.

"I would love it," said Karua.

On his part, Odinga noted that he was ready to grace the event but his attendance would be determined by whether or not other presidential candidates avail themselves for the discussion.

"I agree (with Karua) but other people have rejected it. I have participated before and the other time I debated alone so it will depend on the availability (of candidates) and preparations." 

Last month, Deputy President William Ruto's presidential campaign team announced that he would be a no-show for the scheduled presidential debate on grounds that the media houses conducting the exercise are biased against him.

The Director of Communications for the WSR presidential campaign, Hussein Mohamed, at the time, cited "unequal allocation of coverage, compounded by biased framing and negative profiling of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance campaign and personalities affiliated to it".

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Media Owners Association (MOA) and the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) have made final preparations for the debate whose date and other details, such as how Kenyans can participate, will be announced soon.

The debate seeks to enable citizens to obtain comprehensive information that will inform their decision on which presidential candidate to elect on the ballot come August 9.

KEG president Churchill Otieno told the press on Thursday that measures have been put in place since then to ensure that debates adhere to the principles of fairness, integrity, independence, and accountability.