The preparations for the presidential debate being organized by the Media Owners’ Association, the Media Council of Kenya, and the Kenya Editors Guild are in top gear. This is according to the Presidential Debate Secretariat.

Speaking today when they signed a partnership with Usawa Agenda a nonprofit organization that pushes for equity in the education sector. The presidential debate 2022 secretariat says it is ready to conduct a credible debate that will provide a platform for Kenyans to interrogate the presidential candidates’ manifestos to enable them to make a more informed decision.

“We have reached out to every single party or individual that should be participating in this debates. We have also shared with them the guidelines on how the debates will be run including the candidate that complained.” Churchill Otieno, President – Kenya Editors Guild

The secretariat also says that issues raised by the stakeholders including candidates led by Kenya Kwanza Presidential flag bearer have been taken into consideration and the candidates have expressed optimism.

On his part, the Nation Media Group CEO Stephen Gitagama and the Chairman of Media Owners’ Association (MOA) reiterated that the presidential debate is a collective initiative, “It is a platform that reaches Kenyans that you would never get during this campaign period.” He said.

The Executive Director of Usawa Agenda Emmanuel Manyasa appreciated the partnership and said, “We have monitored campaigns and it seems that education is being pushed to the rear banner of public discourse and we think education is going to be the next challenge for the next government and for that reason we partner with the presidential debate to make sure that the presidential candidates will tell us what they are going to do to ensure that our children have access to quality education.”