Poll: Kenyans wary of tribal groupings

The majority of Kenyans are opposed to the re-emergence of ethnic based alliances ahead of the General Election, a new opinion poll shows.

The poll by Strategic Africa reveals that 62 percent of Kenyans are against the revival of the Gema and Kamatusa tribal groupings associated with Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto respectively.

Gema brings together the Gikuyu, Embu, and Meru while Kamatusa comprises the Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu communities respectively.

Caesar Handa, the pollster’s chief executive said Wednesday those opposed to the tribal groupings cited various reasons including the fact that they will bring disunity, tension and violence to the country ahead of the elections.

Enhance cohesion

Others suggested that the ethnic alliances, which have roundly been criticised by various leaders including Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former president Moi, had no vision for the country.

According to the poll, 13 per cent of those interviewed, however, supported the ethnic alliances with 25 per cent remaining non-committal.

"Those in support say the groupings will enhance cohesion among various communities in the country, make politics grow, help bring about development among others," said Mr Handa at the Stanley Hotel, Nairobi.

Nyanza province at 74 per cent, had the highest number of those opposed to the ethnic alliances, followed by Nairobi (69 pc), Western and North Eastern (68pc), Coast (65pc), Rift Valley (58pc), Eastern (55pc) and Central (53pc).

On the other hand, Central province – at 24 per cent and Rift Valley 17 per cent – had the highest percentage of those in support of the groupings.

According to the poll, Prime Minister Raila Odinga at 32.7 per cent is still the man to beat if elections are held today.

Fight corruption

The PM, according to the poll, trounced all his challengers as the aspirant who will improve the various sectors in the country including education, employment, building and construction, national integration, agriculture, implementation of the Constitution among others.

"Those polled said Mr Odinga was the best suited aspirant to fight corruption, seek justice for the marginalised, ensure media freedom and ensure fairness in the distribution of resources," said Mr Handa.

Mr Kenyatta comes second with 15.2 per cent.

Others are William Ruto (7.9pc), Musalia Mudavadi (7.1pc), Kalonzo Musyoka (7pc) and Martha Karua (5.3pc) while 15.2 per cent of the respondents are undecided.

In regard to political parties, ODM (34.9 per cent) maintained its position as the most popular party in the country. PNU was ranked second with 8.4 per cent of the respondents supporting it.

Others are United Republican Party (8.2), Wiper Democratic Party (4.9 per cent) and the G7 Alliance (2.1pc).

The poll was conducted between April 27 and May 2 this year, with a sample size of 5,000 respondents across the 46 counties. The respondents were aged between 17 years and above, with data collected using face to face interviews.