Six Jubilee MPs dismiss opinion poll ratings

Jubilee MPs have dismissed recent opinion polls indicating President Uhuru Kenyatta’s popularity ratings have dropped in recent months.

The ruling coalition lawmakers termed the polls, which also suggested that Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga had recorded slight improvement in confidence ratings, as inaccurate.

They argued in the run-up to the last elections, pollsters for some time portrayed CORD candidates as leading yet Uhuru and his running mate William Ruto triumphed in first round.

The six Jubilee MPs chose the African Inland Church (AIC) in Ziwani, Nairobi, to express their frustrations with pollsters, claiming that it was a plot by the Opposition to portray an inaccurate picture of the political environment in the country so as to confuse the electorate in the run-up to the next General Election.

“We don’t believe in opinion polls... Only God’s opinion polls count, and we are not concerned with what is being bandied around,” said Starehe MP Maina Kamanda.

Others present were Dennis Waweru (Dagoretti South), David Gakuya (Embakasi North), Waihenya Ndirangu (Roysambu), George Theuri (Embakasi West) and John Njoroge (Kasarani).

Mr Waweru argued the pollster had ignored fundamental indicators that would have presented a more accurate picture of the political environment in the country.

They also dismissed the Opposition-led Okoa Kenya campaign which they termed as “fake salvation”.

“We only know of one form of salvation which comes from God,” said Waweru.

Kamanda claimed that the Okoa Kenya campaign was a result of the CORD leader finding it difficult to accept the results of the last General Election.

He advised Opposition leaders to allow the Jubilee administration to implement its agenda.

“There are people who still find it hard to accept that they lost during the last General Election. Even our opponents in the parliamentary contests are patiently waiting 2017,” he said.

The MPs’ anger over the polls comes in the wake of recent opinion polls indicating that Raila’s popularity had grown by four percentage points, while that of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto had dropped since the last General Election.

The Jubilee administration is faces a tide of insecurity, which the pollster blamed for the President’s waning ratings.

The President is also under pressure to fulfill most of his promises during the March 2013 election campaigns.

Incompetency claims

Another poll conducted by Ipsos Synovate, and whose results were published in the Sunday Standard, showed that majority of Kenyans were against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) conducing the next General Election. IEBC has been in the crosshairs of the opposition over claims of incompetence and corruption.

CORD MPs through the Okoa Kenya campaign want the electoral body disbanded and a fresh one constituted. The Jubilee lawmakers, however, questioned the criteria used to conduct the polls, with Njoroge drawing parallels with recent opinion polls in the United Kingdom which showed that the Labour Party was running neck in neck with the Conservatives during last month’s elections. The actual results of the election, however, gave the Conservatives a wide lead over their rivals.

The Kasarani lawmaker also reminded Jubilee supporters that opinion polls during the last General Election had been disproved during the actual polling.

“Opinion polls are never accurate. Even during the last General Election, they said Uhuru had only 34 per cent, but he ended up with 50 plus one per cent. It is not only in Africa where polls are misleading, but also in Europe,” Njoroge said.

Gakuya claimed that the opposition was prematurely setting the country in an election mode.

“The Constitution was to be implemented in five years. The issue of Okoa Kenya is therefore premature,” said Gakuya.

The legislators did not however speak on another poll, conducted by Synovate, which placed Jubilee affiliate parties ahead of their CORD counterparts in popularity ratings.

Interestingly, the poll which did not favour CORD, has also been dismissed by CORD leaders as inaccurate.