The Jubilee administration is still performing worse than the Grand Coalition Government, despite improvement registered since November last year.
A new poll by Ipsos shows the Jubilee administration has performed worse than the Grand Coalition Government in taming corruption, economic growth, terrorism, crime and the cost of living. The poll was conducted between June 4 and 18. The target population was Kenyans aged 18 years and above, 2,076 of whom live in urban and rural areas, spread across 41 counties.
"In terms of the overall trend, when all the positive and negative scores are added up, the total negatives out-score the total positives by 209 per cent, rather less than the gap found in November, 2015 ( 275 per cent)," Ipsos said.
The only areas in which the respondents say Jubilee has done better than the grand coalition government is in health ( 55 per cent) and media freedom ( 38 per cent). Health is, however, a county government function and, thus, it may not be clear how much credit should go to the Jubilee administration. The poll also shows Kenya is moving in the wrong direction, despite Kenyans having high confidence in the leadership of President Uhuru Kenyatta. In the June poll, 60 per cent of Kenyans said the country is moving in the wrong direction. This marks a drop from 67 per cent in the November poll.
Twenty-six per cent of Kenyans say the country is moving in the right direction, a rise from 22 per cent in the last poll. Ipsos explained this could be caused by the absence of a terrorist attack or a new mega corruption scandal. Both Jubilee and Cord supporters agree the government has done well in infrastructure, health, education and power costs. Some 68 per cent of respondents said they approve of Uhuru's performance in the last three months, which is a jump from 47 per cent in November 2015. The poll shows nearly half ( 49 per cent) of those holding a negative view regarding the country's direction give the President approval.
"While nearly all of those who feel Kenya is headed in "the right direction" also approve of his recent performance ( 90 per cent), not even half of those who feel the country's direction is "wrong" fault his recent performance ( 44 per cent)," Ipsos said. The researchers said this raises the question on how much credit or fault the President and the national government should shoulder, given the shared responsibilities with county governments.
Those with a lot of confidence on Uhuru increased from 35 per cent to 45 per cent, while for Deputy President William Ruto, there was an increase from 28 per cent to 34 per cent.
"Regionally, the President's approval rating is highest in Central, followed by Rift Valley ( 88 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively). Only in Nyanza does Ruto fail to get at least a majority of this view ( 30 per cent)," Ipsos explained. In Nairobi, Uhuru's approval stood at 57 per cent and in Coast, it was 66 per cent. The report added: "The fact that a full one-third of opposition loyalists are prepared to give him such approval suggests a significant weakening of opposition's base."
The poll shows the number of those who believe the cost of living is the greatest problem facing Kenya has declined from 36 per cent to 28 per cent. Respondents who say crime, insecurity and terrorism are the greatest problem have decreased from 12 per cent to three per cent. With regard to political affiliation, 46 per cent of the respondents said they felt close to Uhuru's Jubilee, a rise from 45 per cent in November 2015. Those who feel close to Cord stand at 32 per cent, a figure similar to that in the November poll.
Those who are undecided on their political affiliation increased from seven percent to 11 per cent.
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