The Kenya Presidential Debates 2022 have been launched by the Kenya Media Owners Association, the Kenya Media Council, and the Kenya Editors Guild, in cooperation with political parties, ahead of the August polls.
During a press conference on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, the three entities agreed on a joint inclusive approach to the process and named Clifford Machoka, the current Head of External Affairs & Marketing, Nation Media Groups, as the Head of the Presidential Debates Secretariat.
Machoka will oversee a multi-institutional team charged with involving political party partners and stakeholders in the electoral process, as well as organising the Presidential and Deputy Presidential Debates in 2022.
Leo Mutisya, the Kenyan Media Council’s Head of Research and Media Monitoring, and Rosalia Omungo, the Kenya Editors’ Guild’s Chief Executive Officer, will assist him.
“A team of senior editors from across media houses has been established to provide stewardship of the content aspects given how critical the debates are to ensure the public interest obligations are served.
“What we launch today is a journey that will see the various arms of the media industry play their rightful role during this electoral process,” a joint statement by the three media entities reads.
For the benefit of Kenyans, the Kenyan media has worked since 2013 to establish Presidential Debates as one of the cornerstone foundations of Kenya’s democracy and election process.
In 2013, all eight contenders met for two 2-hour debates to discuss Kenya‘s future with one other and Kenyans.
During the same time period in 2017, the media hosted two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.