Raila most trusted politician

By Lucianne Limo

Prime Minister Raila Odinga is the most trusted political leader, a new opinion poll reveals.

According to an Infotrak Harris poll released Saturday, 31 per cent of Kenyans trust Raila while 11 per cent have faith in President Mwai Kibaki, who ranks second in the list of most trusted leaders in Kenya today. The development is no doubt welcome news for the PM, who has over the last one year been fighting wars on many fronts within Government and his Orange Democratic Movement party. Commenting on the report, Raila said it is a reflection of his commitment to change. He said Kenyans desire for change, and particularly a new constitution, was unwavering and hoped leaders will listen to the wishes of the people.

The curious development about the latest ratings involves Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka whose approval has plummeted drastically. Kalonzo, who has variously been rated behind Raila and Kibaki in previous polls, is now listed below Gichugu MP Martha Karua, Agriculture Minister William Ruto, deputy premiers, Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende.

Ratings

The poll, carried out between November 22 and 30 last year, shows Karua’s ratings at seven per cent, Ruto and Uhuru (five per cent), Mudavadi and Marende (four per cent), Planning Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth, Environment Minister John Michuki and Kalonzo tie at three per cent. Others include Tourism Minister Najib Balala, Lands Minister James Orengo and Water Minister Charity Ngilu who registered one per cent each. Kalonzo refused to comment on the findings while we were unable to reach the others in the list.

Interestingly, one quarter of the respondents said they did not trust political leaders.

"Only Raila and Kibaki’s ratings were from respondents across the board as opposed to other leaders whose votes were from their own regions," said Infotrak Director Angela Ambitho.

2012 elections

She said respondents who thought Karua and Ngilu were trustworthy were largely females while those who voted for male politicians were mostly male.

The poll comes at a time when politicians have realigned themselves in readiness for 2012 General Election. The run up to 2012 has witnessed formation of the so-called KKK alliance to bring together Kalenjin, Kikuyu and Kamba leaders. ODM-Kenya leader, Kalonzo, Kanu Chairman Uhuru and ODM Deputy Party Leader, Ruto, who are the forces behind the new grouping, have made it clear they would forge an alliance in order to ascend to power in 2012.

Poor performance

In another poll released by Synovate (formerly Steadman) last October, Raila’s approval ratings stood at 31 per cent while Kalonzo registered 14 per cent, Uhuru (10 per cent) and Ruto (seven per cent). Then, Raila’s ratings equalled the combined total of the three leaders fronting the KKK alliance. This time around the PM is 18 per cent better than the trio’s combined 13 per cent approval ratings. However, Ruto denies being in the KKK alliance, and calls nonsense reports linking him to the group.

According to the latest Infotrak Harris poll, Kenyans gave the Grand Coalition Government thumbs down with an average performance of only 1.5 out of 10. Specifically, most of the respondents gave the Government a rating of between 1-2 out of 10 for its performance. The people cited poor follow-up on the establishment of reform agenda coupled with high unemployment levels, constant power wrangles, and corruption as the major issues responsible for the Government’s low performance.

"Unsurprisingly, almost half of respondents (48 per cent) stated that one of the main reasons they gave the Government unfavourable ratings is the non-accomplishment of promised reforms," said Ambutho when releasing the findings in Nairobi yesterday.

Kenyans also feel the Government has let them down because of rising poverty levels, insecurity, poor governance as well as ignoring the plight of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Peace

It is not all grim, however, as respondents said they were happy with the Government’s efforts to rehabilitate infrastructure, provide free primary education, and attempts at restoration of peace after the 2007/2008 poll violence, and successful rural electrification programme.

Kenyans now want the Government to urgently deal with unemployment and corruption, provide accessible and affordable health care, eradicate poverty and come up with a new constitution.

Most of the Kenyans surveyed want perpetrators of post election violence to be tried at The Hague.