Nairobi — Before June 11, 2022, majority of Kenyans had little or no knowledge of who Ruth Mucheru Mutua was.
Mucheru was catapulted to the limelight when she was named running mate of Agano Party Presidential candidate Mwaure Waihiga, one of the four candidates cleared for the August 9 presidential election.
A wife and a middle-aged mother of two young daughters, Mucheru's experience in the corporate sector spans 15 years.
She refers to herself as a communication expert "passionate about fighting corruption".
Mucheru is one of the four deputy presidential candidates who are set to face off during a debate slated for Tuesday, July 19, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA).
The debate split into two tiers of two candidates will hold just weeks to the August 9 General Election.
Between February 2006 and September 2007, Ruth worked at Ruchaga Investments as a supplier's officer before proceeding to Sadolin Paints in March 2008 where she took up the role of customer care representative until August the same year.
In 2009, Ruth joined Telkom which was then known as Orange where she worked as a corporate customer care representative, order and contract specialist and later sales and administration manager.
Before she was appointed as Mwaure's running mate, Mucheru works as an Account Manager at Rotor Scientific (EA) Limited, a firm that assesses and formulates corporate intelligence, where she assumed the role in 2019.
Mucheru is an alumnus of University of Nairobi where she studied a bachelor's degree in Communication and Sociology between 2010 and 2014.
Prior to that, she had enrolled at Kenya Institute of Business Training where she graduated with a Diploma in Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management.
She is a former student of State House Primary School and Visa Oshwal Girls High School in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ruth will be debating with Justina Wamae of the Roots Party led by George Wajackoyah during in first tier debate which will start at 5pm being candidates whose popularity rating, based on three recent opinion polls, is less than 5 per cent.
It will be followed by candidates with above 5per cent popularity rating who will debate from 7pm to 10pm.
Rigathi Gachagua of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance and Martha Karua of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya will face off in the second debate.
"Under the presidential debate rules, the moderators will select the questions to be asked and shall not share the same with candidates," said Clifford Machoka, Head of the Presidential Debate Secretariat.
Machoka further pointed out that invitations have been sent to all the candidates.
Tuesday's debate will clear the way for the main presidential debate set to be held on July 26.
The debate is organized jointly by the Media Owners of Kenya (MOK), Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG).
Organizers of the debate have urged all candidates to participate in the debate so as to enable Kenyans understand their agenda.
The plea came even as Deputy President William Ruto vowed to keep off the debate accusing the media of bias.
Ruto's camp has cited a media survey released by the Media Council of Kenya in June which showed their main competitor Raila Odinga received 58.7 per cent coverage in news media compared to Ruto's 36.6 per cent.
Media survey reveals disparities in election campaign coverage
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The DP's campaign secretariat has dismissed a new survey that suggested an improvement saying it lacked legitimacy.
UDA Presidential Campaign says Ruto, Gachagua to make own choices on debates
The new survey showed that Ruto's media coverage had increased to 46 per cent compared to his main competitor Raila Odinga of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya who got 45 per cent.
The July 26 debate will be the third televised presidential debate in the country, the first having been held in 2013.
In 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta kept off the presidential debate leaving Odinga to face the panelists in a solo debate with six other contenders having failed to reach the 5 per cent threshold for participation in the main debate.
Raila debates solo as Uhuru skips TV debate, rules out violence in polls
