Confidence in President Uhuru kenyatta and William Ruto has risen, study shows

Deputy President William Ruto

NAIROBI, KENYA: A new survey conducted by Ipsos Synovate shows a significant rise in confidence in President Uhuru Kenyatta following his appearance in The Hague.

The opinion poll conducted immediately after the President attended the ICC status conference last week indicates that Kenyans have a lot more confidence in the President.

His confidence ratings have increased sharply from 43 per cent to 71 per cent according to a poll conducted in August by Ipsos.

"Twice as many Jubilee supporters (90 per cent) stated having 'a lot of confidence' in the President compared to CORD supporters (44 per cent)," the poll results say.

Confidence ratings for Deputy President William Ruto, Attorney General Githu Muigai and Cabinet secretaries has also risen.

The proportion of Kenyans indicating they have 'a lot of confidence' in the Deputy President now stands at 62 per cent from 43 per cent in August, while ratings for the Attorney General and Cabinet secretaries stand at 48 per cent and 42 per cent from 19 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

The poll, conducted among 1,669 respondents, also indicate support for the Pesa Mashinani referendum campaign is higher than that of Okoa Kenya.

According to the survey results, 53 per cent of Kenyans support the vote call by governors while 38 per cent support the Okoa Kenya push. Another 9 per cent were either not sure or declined to give their views.

JUBILEE LOYALISTS

Some 28 per cent of Jubilee loyalists support the Pesa Mashinani campaign compared to 80 per cent support by CORD followers.

Three-quarters of CORD enthusiasts back the Okoa Kenya referendum compared to only 19 per cent of Jubilee supporters.

According to the poll, the proposed referendums face a foreseeable challenge because a proportion of Kenyans are unaware of basic facts on devolution.

Based on an index of civic knowledge crafted by Ipsos on the basis of data obtained in that survey, only one-quarter of all Kenyans can be placed in the 'high-knowledge' category.

Following the recent incident at a CORD rally in Kwale County where former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was assaulted by a man, 55 per cent of the respondents feel the security accorded to Raila is inadequate compared to 32 per cent who say his security is sufficient.