Poll: Strong public approval for PM

More Kenyans approve the leadership of Prime Minister Raila Odinga when compared with those that give President Kibaki, the Coalition Cabinet and Parliament a tick for a job well done, a new poll by Gallup International shows.

The poll released on Monday in Nairobi rates the PM at 85 per cent, the President at 63 per cent, Parliament 67 per cent and the Grand Coalition Cabinet at 63 per cent.

Contrary to what activists presumed is closer to Kenyans’ hearts - the Constitution review - a majority of respondents say that they are more concerned with poverty and inflation.

The study, conducted between June 19 and July 9, indicated that 17 per cent of those interviewed believed poverty (17pc), inflation (17pc) and creating jobs (11pc) were the most pressing issues. Only nine per cent thought Constitutional reform should be a priority.

Some 13 per cent of the respondents disapproved of the PM’s leadership, while President Kibaki had 33 per cent disapproving his leadership.

However, President Kibaki polled higher than the Premier both in Central and Eastern provinces where he (President Kibaki) also garnered more votes than Mr Odinga during last year’s General Election.

In Central province, President Kibaki polled 97 per cent while Mr Odinga polled 59 per cent. And in Eastern Province, President Kibaki was approved by 84 per cent of those interviewed with Mr Odinga managing 65 per cent.

In Nyanza, the PM rated 96 per cent while the President rated 43 per cent. It was in North Eastern where Mr Odinga polled the highest at 99 per cent against President Kibaki’s 42 per cent.

In the rest of the provinces, Mr Odinga led in approval ratings scoring 85 percent in Nairobi, 97 per cent in Coast, 94 per cent in Rift Valley and 93 per cent in Western. In these regions President Kibaki scored 67, 49, 56 and 49 per cent respectively.

The report was released by Robert Tortora, the Chief Methodologist and Regional Research Director for Gallup’s sub-Saharan Africa operations at a function attended by among others the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Kenneth Marende and the US ambassador to Kenya, Mr Michael Ranneberger.

It also emerged that generally, Kenyans do not have confidence in the honesty of elections nor trust in the electoral commission while a majority of them want a national debate on ethnic divisions to seek a way forward.