Raila to Hold a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday After Withdrawing from Presidential Debate

Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga will hold a televised town hall meeting in Nairobi on Thursday, his campaign secretariat said on Monday.

This comes after Odinga withdrew from the much-awaited Presidential Debate slated for Tuesday where he was set to face off with his main competitor Deputy President William Ruto of the UDA party.

Raila’s campaign secretariat said their candidate will not share a national podium with Ruto, who they described as a “man who has no regard for ethics, public morals, or shame.”

“That is why he has demanded that the debate not focus on corruption, integrity, ethics, and governance—the key existential questions that Kenya faces. These issues sit at the core of the Azimio campaign,” Odinga’s campaign team spokesperson Prof. Makau Mutua said in a statement on Sunday.

Mutua pointed out that any debate devoid of the above-mentioned questions would be an insult to the intelligence of Kenyans.

“That is why we do not intend to share a national podium with a person who lacks basic decency…It would be a colossal mistake to reward such a person with a national debate,” he added.

He noted that instead of a traditional debate, Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua will hold a televised town hall at Jericho Social Hall in Nairobi’s Eastlands where ordinary Kenyans will be given a chance to offer solutions to the challenges facing the country and common people.

“Our flag bearer Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua will openly answer questions put to them by the people of Kenya, honestly and free from what would otherwise be nothing more than empty self-serving political theater,” Mutua stated.