August polls: Campaigns officially kick off
Campaigns for the August elections officially kick off today, Sunday, May 29, 2022 in line with the directives gazetted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Two-horse race
As the campaigns hit full swing today, the competition has proven to be a two-horse race between Deputy President William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga.
Ruto who is currently at odds with President Uhuru Kenyatta is running for the top job as an agent of change who seeks to uplift the lowest at the rank of the economy and provide jobs.
His main challenger on the other hand, aims at dissecting problems facing the country, among them political inclusion, divisive electoral processes, insecurity, corruption and reviving the economy.
The battle for political supremacy has taken centre among aspirants and political parties, as the majority unofficially began their campaigns before the official date.
Early starters such as Ruto began campaigning soon after being re-elected into office in 2017.
Promote peaceful campaigns
With the official campaign season beginning today, candidates are expected to adhere to peaceful campaigns in line with the code of conduct they signed with the electoral body.
Already, the path to elections has been bumpy following the few ugly incidents of violence, heckling and leaders making reckless utterances that could possibly lead to incitement.
So far, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) which is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that no hate or incitement remarks are made by politicians has summoned different leaders to shed light on controversial remarks made during rallies promising to take action against culprits after elections.
As the online voter register verification ends on Thursday, June 2, 2022, relevant authorities have implored voters to shun leaders perpetrating inciteful remarks, insults, and violence to maintain peaceful campaigns and elections ahead of the August polls.
