Voters in areas considered to be Jubilee strongholds are fast losing confidence in the coalition, a new survey has shown.
A recent opinion poll conducted by Infotrak and released Sunday, found that the approval ratings for President Uhuru Kenyatta's government dipped in Mt Kenya and Rift Valley, regions that overwhelmingly supported Jubilee in the last poll.
According to the survey findings, which come at a time when the Government has been plagued by a number of corruption scandals, 54.3 per cent of Central Kenya residents identify with the ruling coalition while 49.3 per cent of those from the Rift Valley would vote for Uhuru.
In the last General Election, Uhuru garnered 6,173,433 votes, with about two thirds of the votes emanating from his Central Kenya backyard and Rift Valley,where his running mate Ruto is from.
Speaking while releasing the poll findings, Infotrak CEO Angela Ambitho attributed the dwindling fortunes of the Jubilee coalition to the inability to fight graft in the government and failure to honour pre-election promises.
However, nationally Jubilee still commands the lead in popularity, with 37.5 per cent of those who participated in the poll affirming that they support the coalition, against 32.8 per cent for CORD.
On individual political leaders' popularity, President Kenyatta's ratings fell by a significant 26.1 per cent, with 33.7 per cent of Kenyans saying they would re-elect the Head of State if elections were held today. The President's approval ratings at the same last year stood at 59.8 per cent.
Results of the survey that was conducted between November 6 and November 9 in 25 counties will be music to the ears of members of the Orange Democratic Movement, as the approval ratings of their party leader shot up.
"If elections were held today, 28.7 per cent of Kenyans would vote for Raila Odinga. His popularity across the country a year ago stood at 19.3 per cent," said Ms Ambitho.
Deputy President William Ruto's support fell to 1.6 per cent from 2.9 per cent last year. The ratings of other presidential candidates like Peter Kenneth, Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua and Musalia Mudavadi shot from 2 to 5.7 per cent, 1.5 to 2.5 per cent, 0.6 to 2.2 per cent and 0.3 to 1.2 per cent respectively.
The Infotrak survey findings were based on a sample of 1,000 respondents.
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