Candidates vying for the Nairobi governor seat on August 9 will today be in the spotlight when they face off in a debate slated from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
Nine people are running for the gubernatorial race, including Johnson Sakaja of the United Democratic Alliance and Polycarp Igathe of the Jubilee party (UDA).
Additionally set to speak before the panel is former journalist Denise Kodhi of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), tech entrepreneur Harman Grewal of the Safina Party, Kenneth Nyamwamu of the United Progressive Alliance, and Cleophas Mutua Kiio of the Ford Kenya party.
The discussion will also feature independent candidates Esther Waringa, Nancy Wambui, and entrepreneur Agnes Kagure.
“We commit that the questions will be forwarded to the moderators who will select and endeavour to have as many questions as possible answered by the Nairobi Gubernatorial candidates during the debates,” reads a statement by the secretariat.
The debate is organized jointly by the Media Owners of Kenya (MoA), Media Council of Kenya (MCK), and the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG).
Candidates who scored higher than 5 per cent in the same polls will be in the second tier. The show will start at 8:00 pm and end at 9.30 pm.
The presidential debate will take place on July 26 before the election and will be immediately followed by a debate for the vice president’s running mates on July 19.
“We are delighted to confirm to the country that those preparations are now in their final leg and today, we are announcing key details about the debates which will all take place this month, July 2022,” Head of the Debates Secretariat Clifford Machoka said in a statement.
The first-tier debate will be moderated by Serfine Achieng’ Ouma of KBC and Ayub Abdikadir of K24 TV, while the second-tier debate will be moderated by Zubeida Koome of KTN and Mark Masai of NTV.
The debate comes just a week before the deputy presidential debate on July 19 and two weeks before the presidential debate on July 26.