Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua have expressed their willingness to participate in the presidential debate scheduled for July, seemingly taking a swipe at the Kenya Kwanza team led by Deputy President William Ruto who expressed disinterest in the same.

Speaking in a joint media interview on the evening of Tuesday, June 28, Karua particlulary stated that she would love the chance to debate as it would portray her desire to sell the Azimio agenda to the electorate and give her an opportunity to gauge what the other competitors in the race had in store for Kenyans.

"I would love it," said Karua.

Odinga echoed her sentiments stating that he was willing to attend,  but on the condition that other presidential candidates make an appearance to avoid a repeat of  2017 , where he was left on the podium by himself after President Uhuru Kenyatta declined the invite.

"I agree (with Karua) but other people have rejected it. I have participated before and the other time I debated alone so it will depend on the availability of candidates and preparations." he stated.

Deputy President William Ruto's presidential campaign team last month revealed that he would not attend the event, claiming that his political coverage on the media was biased against him, according his main competitor Odinga more time through various media platforms.

The organizers of the Presidential Debate however comprising of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Media Owners Association (MOA) and the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) released a statement in response to the WSR presidential campaign led by Hussein Mohamed stating the event would not be cancelled as preparations were already in the finishing stages.

The institutions also stated that DP Ruto and his team were constantly updated of the preparations for them to give their feedback and therefore missing out on the event would rob of Kenyans a chance to listen to what the leaders had to offer ahead of the elections in order to guide their decisions in the August 9 polls.

In fact, KEG president Churchill Otieno on Thursday, June 23 in a press briefing stated that measures have been put in place since then to ensure that debates adhere to the principles of fairness, integrity, independence, and accountability to accord every participant equal opportunity.