Presidential candidates to battle it out in historic debate

By BENJAMIN MUINDI bmuindi@ke.nationmedia.com and ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Sunday, February 10  2013 at  21:25

In Summary

• The first debate on Monday to be aired live locally on eight TV and 34 radio stations will centre on issues of governance, social services, health and education, security and resource management.
• “This will be an opportunity for the candidates to engage the audience and show what really differentiates them from their competitors,” Mr Francis Munywoki, the operations director of the debate said.

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All is set for Kenya’s presidential debate which starts Monday night at 7.30pm.

Organisers of the event dubbed ‘Presidential Debate 2013’ were on Sunday polishing up questions, and setting the stage for the duel at the Brookhouse International School, Nairobi.

Six presidential aspirants Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi, Martha Karua, Peter Kenneth and James ole Kiyiapi will battle it out.

The first debate on Monday to be aired live locally on eight TV and 34 radio stations will centre on issues of governance, social services, health and education, security and resource management.

International media outlets — BBC, CNN, Reuters and Al Jazeera will cover the historic event.

Internet giant, Google, will stream the debate at http://www.youtube.com/user/electionskenya and the Daily Nation at http://www.nation.co.ke and live text of the proceedings will be provided in the website.

“This will be an opportunity for the candidates to engage the audience and show what really differentiates them from their competitors,” Mr Francis Munywoki, the operations director of the debate said.

He went on: “This way, we want to use the media to help the electorate make more informed decisions during the elections and at the same time, create peace.”

A guest list of 200 has been drawn up representing all sectors at the auditorium, but it is estimated that more than 40 million viewers and listeners across the globe will have access to the debate.

The event will last for two hours with the candidates answering questions from two moderators — NTV’s Linus Kaikai and Julie Gichuru of Citizen TV.

Of the allotted time, 30 minutes will be dedicated to analysis of the debate by experts who will delve into the viability of the policy proposals put forward by the candidates.

Mr Munywoki said the team had reached more than 5,000 questions directed to the six candidates through SMS, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other questions were delivered to their offices at I&M Building in Nairobi.

A second debate will be held on February 25 and the deliberation will revolve around the economy, land, devolution and foreign policy.

KTN’s Joe Ageyo and Citizen TV’s Uduak Amimo will moderate the second round.

Research wing

Presidential Debate 2013 is the brainchild of a consortium of media practitioners led by Royal Media Services chief executive officer Wachira Waruru.

Others in the steering committee are Mr Linus Gitahi (Nation Media Group), Mr Sam Shollei (Standard Group), Mr Paul Wanyaga (Media Max), Mr Patrick Quarcko (Radio Africa), Mr Julius Lamaon (Kass TV) and Mr Waithaka Waihenya (KBC).

The media houses invested Sh100 million to run the presidential debate.

The secretariat also has a research wing made up of veteran journalists and subject experts who are tightening the questions the candidates will answer.

According to the rules of the day, there will be no clapping, cheering or jeering during the debates.