Why Wajackoyah is threatening to skip presidential debate
By Wangu KanuriRoots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah has threatened to skip Tuesday’s presidential debate if he is not given the opportunity to share the same platform with Azimio la Umoja and Kenya Kwanza Alliance’s presidential candidates.
In a statement signed by the Party’s spokesperson Wilson Muirani aka Jaymo Ule Msee, the party questioned the polls that placed it’s presidential candidate with less than five per cent popularity.
The popularity of individual candidates from recent opinion polls is the yardstick that organisers of the debate have used in clustering the candidates into first and second-tier debates.
Various polls have placed the popularity of Prof Wajackoyah and that of David Mwaure Waihiga of Agano Party significantly lower than that of Deputy President William Ruto (Kenya Kwanza Alliance) and Azimio la Umoja’s Raila Odinga.
As such, Prof Wajackoyah and Mr Waihiga have been scheduled for the first-tier debate, before Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga face off in the second-tier debate.
But Prof Wajackoyahs Root Party claims the polls that gave these results are not credible.
“Our decision is informed by the fact that the polls used as a determinant to pair the presidential candidates are not factual because they are conducted by pollsters with interest to some political parties participating in presidential candidate,” the party said in the statement.
The party also said the time they have given their recommendations was enough to conduct credible polls before debate which is scheduled for July 26th at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
“We look forward to our candidate attending the debate once our concerns are well addressed and our candidate matched in the right platform for the debate,” the party said.