Presidential candidates attending the Presidential debate for 2022 have been barred from sneaking in written notes for reference during the debates.
This follows an incident during the Deputy Presidential Debate held last week where one of the candidates, United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) Rigathi Gachagua, had written notes during the debate.
“The candidates in the debate have agreed to observe the highest standards of ethics in their conduct on the debate platform. The candidates are not permitted to carry or refer to their mobile phones or to wear any listening devices including earphones. A medically recommended hearing aid is exempted from this rule but we have confirmed that none of the candidates is on a hearing aid,” Smriti Vidyarthi, one of the moderators, said.
“Ethics and guidelines also remind the candidates that they shall not carry to the debate platform any written material whether books or journals, manifestos or articles including even handwritten notes,” Ken Mijungu, another moderator, said.
The organisers also said that the debate questions had not been shared with any of the candidates, unlike in previous debates where it was alleged that the questions had been leaked to some candidates.
About the Presidential Debate
The debate is being televised in a joint broadcast and will be conducted in two tiers; first one for those with less than 5% approval ratings and second one for those with 5% and above.
The first-tier debate features candidates who have polled less than 5% in three recent opinion polls moderated by Ms Vidyarthi and Mr Mijungu.
The second-tier debate involving candidates who have polled above 5% in three recent opinion polls will be moderated by Yvonne Okwara of Citizen TV and Eric Latiff of Spice FM and KTN News. Panel discussions for both debates will be moderated by Joe Ageyo of NTV.
Roots Party candidate Prof George Wajackoyah pulled out of the debate, while Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Alliance’s Raila Odinga indicated that he would not attend the debate.
