By: Rashid Wanjala
The person that Raila Team is truly watching is Martha Karua due to her well known debating skills albeit only in rhetoric and human rights issues. Nothing more.  However, Team Raila isn’t worried because she is self limiting only good in rhetoric, not development issues that Kenyans would be watching closely.
Uhuru is an intellectually deficient debater whom non should spend his/her worthy time preparing for. Of course Musalia and Uhuru are on the same team because the latter finances the entire Amani campaign in which they made an agreement that Uhuru keeps off Western in his campaigns, which he has after the co-existence within Jubilee collapsed. In return Musalia would divide the Non-Jubilee vote.
The anti-Musalia game would be eye contact. Musalia having been a long time loyalist of Raila cannot look him in the eye and be able to with honesty say horrible things to his political maker. He lacks a moral basis to show Raila meanness in a debate. Raila has consistently been magnanimous and generous to Musalia.
There’s not a single favor Musalia has asked Jakom that Jakom never fulfilled during LDP and ODM daze, including giving him a springboard into national prominence as DPM. In fact Raila has lost more valuable allies at the altar of working to make Musalia happy. All Raila will need to do is look Musalia in the eye, and Musalia will behave out of guilt and shame for thinking he can bring Raila down, only for him to spring back into national opinion lead. Eye contact is the only medicine to employ against Musalia.  Also for a person who freaks’ being in the cold, Musalia is hoping that Raila would include him in a coalition government.
Raila’s selling point, is that other candidates save for Uhuru are in this for the hope of being Cabinet Secretaries. With Raila leading in all credible opinion polls, most like Kiyiapi, Karua and Kenneth will psychologically evade being mean to Raila in the debate to avoid being in bad books with the next president of Kenya so he may consider them in his first cabinet to be sworn in later this year. They might gang-up against Uhuru to please the next President.
Uhuru’s delving in non-issues would be his own undoing. He will talk of age as usual, and then go blank. His analogue myth masked within his monologues will be debunked today, as he faces unpredictable circumstances and surprise scrutiny.  Does well in a monologue but in a multi-faceted debate which requires one to be spontaneous, UK’s goose is as good as cooked. Cramming and memorizing, which has been in his survival kit, won’t work in this debate.
As a media owner himself, Uhuru’s ability to buy the debate questions in advance might be his only savior. His K24 representatives to the debate panel might be unethical enough to leak the questions to him. Look out for when he answers questions before the panelist completes the question.
Uhuru will fry in his own fat as Raila in his usual fashion systematically unleashes his plans for the nation. As has been his performance at World Economic Forums in Davos Switzerland, G8/20 forums it’s predictable that Raila is the man that the entire world and the nation will be watching.
Kiyiapi and Peter Kenneth wouldn’t get any mileage even though they win the debate. PK is pleasant in looks, and so women audience might favor him.  11 am court decision to include Paul Muite might change the dynamics, because PM is a smart dude with sound reform credentials.
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