By John Ikani
Kenyan Deputy President, William Ruto was left standing alone in an organised presidential debate after his rival, Raila Odinga failed to participate in the event on Tuesday night.
The debate was to be two-tiered, meaning Mr Odinga and Mr Ruto were to face each other after two less-popular candidates George Wajackoyah and David Mwaure Waihiga have had theirs.
Interestingly, Mr Wajackoyah also failed to participate in the event leaving Mr Waihiga standing alone.
Mr Wajackoyah attributed his non-participation to failure of organizers to grant his request of having all candidates debate in one session.
On his part, Mr Odinga alleged his main rival, Mr Ruto had demanded that some issues, like corruption, be taken off the debate’s agenda.
In the debate, the deputy president was put to task on the government’s disobedience of court orders and the lack of transparency in public infrastructure contracts.
Mr Ruto was also pinned on the source of his vast wealth and “how much was enough”, to which he responded that “enough is enough”.
Post-debate analysts appreciated Mr Ruto for honouring the invitation and criticised Mr Odinga for boycotting the debate.
