DP William Ruto [Photo/Standard]
Deputy President William Ruto has planned to skip the presidential running debate scheduled for Monday July 17, a source has revealed.
According to a source close to DP Ruto, Ruto cited similar reasons as those President Kenyatta said for skipping the presidential debate.
"The letter inviting DP Ruto to the debate came to office yesterday. The organizers of the debate have run the event with little consultation despite the same issues raised by candidates in 2013," a source told Nairobi news.
"There was compromise in 2013 since it was a new idea but serious issues were raised. It seems they were ignored as 2017 was being organized," the source revealed.
"No one was consulted on the dates, it was picked without reference to the campaign schedule. In debates, funding should be disclosed and agreed on by all, that is standard practice across the world,"the source added.
"The problem with the 2017 debate framework is that globally accepted standards were sacrificed. The key principles is that it is a presidential debate not a media debate or studio interview, there must be input from presidential candidates every step of the way," the source concluded.
The source suggested that the issues raised should be addressed by organizers so that future debates are not affected.
The organizers of the debate were forced to postpone the presidential debate from 10 July to 27 July after Uhuru and Raila said they will not attend.