Media and Marende score highly in ratings

By PETER ORENGO and Athman Amran

Kenyans trust the media more at 97 per cent followed by House Speaker Kenneth Marende with 90 per cent.

Synovate lead researcher Tom Wolf said this was the highest approval rating ever given by Kenyans since they began conducting opinion polls.

He said the reason for trusting the media is because Kenyans have no other source of information on the running of Government institutions.

"In my opinion the high rating given to the media by Kenyans is because of the diversity and range of media content Kenyans have access to," said Mr Wolf.

Those polled were asked how they would rate the performance of institutions and personalities this year.

The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) got an approval rating of 88 per cent, followed by President Kibaki at 80 per cent while Prime Minister Raila Odinga stood at 77 per cent. The Coalition Government was rated at 65 per cent, Parliament 59 per cent, and MPs were the list trusted at 50 per cent.

Good work

They said the media had done a good job of informing and exposing some high profile corruption cases.

Wolf said Kenyans unlike in the past, expressed a lot of support for KACC.

"I think KACC was given a high rating because of the publicity it has received and the good work PLO Lumumba has been doing since he took over," he said.

The poll also shows majority of Kenyans feel the Government’s commitment to the implementation of the new Constitution is lukewarm.

It says 53 per cent of Kenyans feel the Government is "somewhat committed" while 37 per cent feel it is "very/completely" committed to the implementation of the new laws.

Only nine per cent of respondents feel the Government is not committed, while one per cent is not sure, according to the survey conducted between December 17 and 23.

The highest percentage of those who feel the Government’s commitment to the implementation of the new Constitution is lukewarm come from those not affiliated to any party (57 per cent).