By Chiimbiru Gimode,Nairobi
Kenyans are waiting anxiously for the first ever presidential debate that seeks to evaluate the presidential candidates to the country.
The debate organized by the Kenyan media will engage six presidential hopefuls in a live televised interview where Kenyans have a chance to follow and interrogate the candidates on an array of issues.
The key candidates top battle it out in this debate will be Prime Minister Raila Odinga of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, Martha Karua of Narc-Kenya,Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Alliance , Musalia Mudavadi of the Amani Coalition, Peter Kenneth of the Eagle Alliance and Prof James ole Kiyiapi of the Restore and Build Kenya party.
Kenyans have expressed varied expectations on the debate scheduled for February 11th.
Grace Kariuki who is a newspaper vendor in the capital Nairobi is excited about the idea and says she finally has a chance to get a clarification of what each candidate purports to represent.
“All these people are always speaking the same language and same things. Nobody has ever been very specific on how they are going to achieve all that. This is the moment to prove that,” says Kariuki.
It has been billed as the greatest defining moment for the presidential hopefuls who have intensified their campaigns and consolidating their supports towards the March 4th election.
“The debates will provide Kenyan voters with the opportunity to listen, interrogate and interact with the presidential candidates. They will also afford the candidates the opportunity to reach out to the widest possible audience and explain how they would govern if elected president,” said Mr Wachira Waruru who chairs joint steering committee for the debates.
The debates will be aired simultaneously on TV and radio stations and streamed live online.
Apart from interrogating the policies of the candidates, the debates are also designed to promote national cohesion and encourage issue based campaigns.
For a long time now, concerns have been raised about the nature of Kenya’s politics. Kenyans have been treated to somewhat casual politics which is always deficient of key issues of concern to the people.
“Kenyans politics has been characterized by name calling and mudslinging at the expense of candid and issue based politicking witnessed in other parts of the world like the United States of America. This is a chance that Kenyans must utilize to get good leaders,’ opined Zachary Chemusi a retired school teacher in Western Kenya.
For Charles Mutua,a law lecturer in Nairobi, the debates won’t change anything as far as the voting patterns and the choice of people is concerned..
“As much as it will help us separate the wheat from the chaff, it won’t change much. Kenyans have already made up their mind on who they will vote for,” he says.
The recent debates in the US between President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney were keenly followed by Kenyans and provides a good background for interrogating the candidates.
The second debate will be held on February 25.