Roots party leader Prof. George Wajackoyah has made a last-minute show up at the presidential debates set to go down at the Catholic University of East Africa.
Wajackoyah had previously said he would not attend the much-awaited debate protesting a move by the organisers of the event to pair candidates on the basis of popularity.
Wajackoyah's previous statement
In a statement to newsrooms, the acclaimed lawyer, seeking to make his first stab at the presidency, further claimed that the outcome of the debate is predetermined.
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"Roots Party would like to state that our presidential candidate Prof Wajackoyah will not attend the presidential debate because we will not subject the incoming President to the joke of an already predetermined debate," Wajackoyah's Spokesperson Wilson Muirani alias Jaymo Ule Msee said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The media cannot decide the outcome of an election before the poll day. The notion that some candidates are trailing others or some leading others is baseless. We refuse to be counted as 'others' in this important democratic duty of seeking the presidency."
The Presidential Debate Secretariat had announced that the debate will proceed in two tiers.
Wajackoyah was paired with Agano party's David Mwaure in the first tier featuring candidates whose popularity ratings, based on recent opinion polls, stand below 5 per cent.
He recently threatened to skip the debate if he is not paired with the leading candidates, Raila Odinga of the Azimio One Kenya coalition and Kenya Kwanza's William Ruto.
"I am not attending the presidential debate unless I am paired with Ruto and Raila. I am more popular in Nairobi than any of these people. I will win this election without debate," the candidate said in TV interview.
