Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate Raila Odinga will not take part in the Tuesday presidential debate, his Presidential campaign spokesman Prof Makau Mutua has said.

Raila was slated to face off with his main challenger, Deputy President William Ruto of UDA, in a much-awaited debate which has been organised by Kenyan media houses collectively.

In a statement shared on Sunday, Prof Makau Mutua said Raila will instead hold a televised town hall meeting at Jericho Social Hall, Nairobi and respond to questions from voters.

“Unfortunately, a traditional debate structure with opposing candidates joined together on stage is a bad idea this year,” read Prof Mutua’s statement in part.

Prof Mutua argues that the Azimio presidential candidate taking part in the presidential debate would be a mistake and akin to “rewarding a person with no regard for ethics”.

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Raila Odinga. PHOTO/COURTESY

He added, “It would be a colossal mistake to reward such a person with a national debate. We will not help his failing campaign. He can explain himself and his poor record to voters without our help.”

Mutua added that the slated town hall meeting will permit the electorate to interact with Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua and ask them questions on their agenda.


This comes over a fortnight after the DP Ruto threatened that he would skip the presidential debate accusing the media of being biased against him and his Kenya Kwanza coalition.

Ruto alleged that there was continued bias and propaganda in a section of the media and was non-committal on his attendance, a position openly supported by other party leaders.

Mwangi wa Iria and Raila Odinga. PHOTO/COURTESY

This also comes days after Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah also threatened to skip the debate to be held at the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA).

Wajackoyah lamented that the event, as currently constituted in two tiers, was biased and meant to isolate other presidential candidates.

Wajackoyah and his Agano Party colleague David Mwaure will face off in the first tier slated for 5:30pm for polling below five per cent in popularity based on latest opinion polls.

Raila and Ruto were set to battle it out in the second tier from around 8pm having garnered more than 5 per cent in the latest popularity opinion polls.