Kenyans support county bosses: poll

Majority of Kenyans want county commissioners retained, a survey indicates.

The survey carried out by Gallup Africa says 60.1 per cent of Kenyans want the officers retained in the 47 counties which has been rejected by the courts.

The organisation’s research director Idi Pembere said most people feel that the officers should take over the duties of the provincial administration.

Most counties in regions such as Central, Rift Valley, Eastern, North Eastern and Nairobi support the creation of the offices for the officers.

“Majority of the respondents from all regions support the presidential appointment of county commissioners by 60.9 per cent,” Mr Pembere said.

He said Counties from Coast, Western and Nyanza are below the average but their score is still above 50 per cent and therefore they cannot be interpreted to mean that they are not supporting the appointment.

Mr Pembere said Nyanza support of 53 per cent, Western and Coast at 58 per cent was due to the political dynamics of the regions.

“But this should not be interpreted to mean that they do not support the creation of the county offices since majority of the respondent is above 50 per cent,” he said.

Central province has the majority in the creation of office for the officers at 65 per cent followed by North Eastern at 63 per cent. Rift Valley and Eastern tie at 62 per cent while Nairobi comes fifth in their support at 60 per cent.

Mr Pembere said the survey sought to determine whether the provincial administration should be retained or abolished.

He said the survey was conducted between June 12 to 25 and 2,433 and was necessitated by constitutional reforms in Kenya.

Mr Pembere said they are associates of World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), International Journal for Public Opinion Research (IJPOR) and American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).