William Ruto seeks IEBC intervention in dealing with the media ahead of 2022 elections

Deputy President William Ruto has sought the intervention of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in stopping what he referred to as unfair treatment by the media.

Speaking when he received his clearance certificate to contest in the August 9, 2022 presidential election, the Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate singled out particular media houses and maintained that he is only asking to be treated fairly.

“We will as and when we come across issues, forward them to you in a formal manner. We do not want to be favoured, we want to be treated fairly like everybody else. We are not asking for what is more than is fair and is a right to us,” Ruto began before launching a scathing attack on the media.

He added: “Respectfully, we want to request our friends in the fourth estate, in the media to be fair. So far we have been treated unfairly by some media houses. When some media houses like for example Citizen give our competitors 10 minutes of airtime and they give us one minute, it cries in the face of integrity and fairness and balance.

“When Daily Nation and Inooro and Kameme do whatever it is they are doing, we have no problem with them taking whatever position they take but they should be honourable and say that in this election, they have chosen a side," Ruto reported.

Kenya's Deputy President, and also Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential candidate William Ruto (R), pose for a photo with his running mate Rigathi Gachagua, at the Deputy's official residence in Karen, Nairobi, on May 15, 2022. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images) Pulse Live Kenya

Taking a position on elections and imminent victory

Ruto noted that Kenya Kwanza respects the political stand of everyone but challenged any media house with a preferred candidate to come out and make their stand public.

“We respect the decision of whatever media house to have a candidate in this election but they should be decent and declare that they have a candidate in this election.

"We have raised these concerns and through you, we want you to address them again so that IEBC can ensure that there is a level playing ground for all candidates in the election,” Ruto noted.

The Kenya Kwanza presidential candidate urged his supporters not to be distracted and reiterated his commitment to keep the elections above board.

“I want to ask all our Kenya Kwanza supporters, the UDA supporters and all our UDA supporters to focus on the imminent win that God will grant us in this election.

"We are committed to the code of conduct that we have signed to keep this election above board. We are confident in your stewardship and that of IEBC in the elections of 2022,” Ruto explained.