Zubeida Koome Returns For Another Debate
The showpiece which will take place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus in Karen, Nairobi will be her second successive debate
admin
KTN News anchor, Zubeida Kananu Koome has been picked to moderate the 2022 deputy presidential debates set for Tuesday, July 19.
The showpiece which will take place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) main campus in Karen, Nairobi will be her second successive debate and will offer her a chance to redeem herself after her outing in the gubernatorial edition went south.
The Presidential Debates secretariat revealed in d-day changes on Tuesday that Zubeida will moderate the debate alongside Citizen TV's Francis Gachuri.
They replaced journalists Linda Alela of TV47 and John Jacob Kioria of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
They will moderate the first session which will feature candidates with a popularity of below 5 per cent in three recent opinion polls. This is where the Agano party's running mate Ruth Mutua and George Wajackoyah's running mate Justina Wamae will do battle.
The moderators, the secretariat explained, were selected based on rigorous criteria that, among other things, endear the principles of impartiality, fairness and objectivity, a strong understanding of the Kenyan political landscape and the major issues of the election.
"Under the rules of the presidential debates, the moderators will select the questions to be asked and shall not share the same with the candidates. They will not meet with any of the campaign teams or candidates and the candidates," the secretariat said in a previous statement.
Sophia Wanuna of KTN and James Smart of NTV have been retained as moderators of the second debate which features candidates with a popularity of above 5 per cent in three recent opinion polls. Citizen TV prime-time news anchor, Trevor Ombija, will moderate panel discussions for both debates.
Zubeida, as aforementioned, will get another chance to redeem her woes following the heated exchange between her and Nairobi gubernatorial candidate, Senator Johnson Sakaja.
The back and forth which served as fodder for conversation across the country on Monday, July 11 began when Sakaja was put to task regarding his degree saga, sparked by his opponent, Polycarp Igathe who claimed that his degree certificate from Team University in Uganda was doctored.
Igathe then waded in by even questioning the integrity of the name 'Sakaja', as part of ascertaining whether it was his real name.
But the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate was annoyed when Zubeida, who was moderating the debate alongside Mark Masai of NTV, asked the same question.
Watch the exchange courtesy of Citizen TV:
Zubeida: is your names Sakaja?
Sakaja: Is your name Zubeida?
Zubeida: I'm the one asking the questions
Sakaja: If you ask unnecessary questions I give you unnecessary answer!
Zubeida: Just tell us if your name is Sakaja
Sakaja: Who did you invite?#NairobiGovDebate2022 pic.twitter.com/bVMnEgJ4nY — Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) July 11, 2022
This then led to a bitter exchange between the two, with the excerpt of the back-and-forth reading like this:
Zubeida: is your name Sakaja?
Sakaja: Is your name Zubeida?
Zubeida: I'm the one asking the questions
Sakaja: If you ask unnecessary questions I give you an unnecessary answer!
Zubeida: Just tell us if your name is Sakaja
Sakaja: Who did you invite?
Sakaja then set the record straight by revealing that his real names were 'Arthur Johnson Sakaja' and turned into the debate's moderator, asking Zubeida questions about the real issues that were facing Nairobians.
Being a debate of national interest, the spat went viral across the country and led to a heated debate with some siding with Zubeida and others criticising her for being biased.
