34 million Kenyans watched Deputy Presidential debate

The Deputy Presidential debate that was held on Tuesday in Nairobi was watched by 34 million viewers in the country, a research by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has revealed. According to MCK out of this number, 70 per cent watched the second debate pitting Azimio la Umoja's Martha Karua and Kenya Kwanza's Rigathi Gachagua, while 30 per cent watched both debates. A paltry 5 per cent watched the first debate pitting Justina Wamae of Roots Party and Ruth Mucheru of Agano Party. MCK said the survey was conducted a day after the debate and targeted Kenyans above 18 years from all counties using Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews. The survey also revealed that 76 per cent of the viewers watched the event on TV, 19 per cent on radio while 10 per cent followed the event on social media platforms. In terms of TV viewership, 67 per cent watched the debate on Citizen TV, followed by Inooro TV and NTV at 8 per cent. KTN and KBC came third with 7 per cent each. In regards to radio listenership, Radio Citizen toped with 41 per cent of the listers followed by Ramogi FM and Radio Jambo at 7 per cent each. However, MCK Chief Executive Officer Mr David Omwoyo has asked the media to refrain from conducting online polls in a bid to uphold information integrity. "While online consumption of media content is increasingly becoming critical, we are cautioning Kenyans to beware of manipulation deliberately pushed by purveyors affiliated to the various political competitors. We noticed a spike in the number of bots participating in online conversation around the debate," he added.