Kenyans believe IEBC will deliver credible polls: survey

A resident votes at Hola Primary School polling centre in Galole, Tana River County, on April 22, 2017 during ODM primaries. A survey has indicated that Kenyans do not want a repeat of post-election violence. PHOTO | GALGALO BOCHA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  BRIAN MOSETI

What you need to know:

  • It also revealed that 93 per cent of Kenyans believe that communities living around them exist harmoniously and cohesively.
  • The study also showed that 72.8 per cent of Kenyans believe the IEBC is capable of handling the elections well.

Most Kenyans will readily accept the outcome of the August 8 General Election, new survey says.

Results of an Infotrak survey commissioned by Integrated Development Network (IDN), a non-governmental organisation that deals with peace, cohesion and security, show 89 per cent of respondents agreed that, no matter the outcome, they will accept the election results.

The study was conducted in all the former provinces, out of a sample size of 1,500 and with a margin error of +/-2.53.

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ELECTION VIOLENCE
It also revealed that 93 per cent of Kenyans believe that communities living around them exist harmoniously and cohesively.

Releasing the results, Infotrak CEO Angela Ambitho attributed this positive outlook to the fact that Kenyans have learnt from their past mistakes, are wiser and do not want a repeat of post-election violence.

However, should there be violence, Kenyans believe that national politics might be the highest cause, at 49 per cent.

Those who would blame county or constituency politics were 19.8 per cent and both levels of governance 16.6 per cent.

People from the former Nyanza and Eastern provinces highly believe national politics will be a trigger to violence, at 63.1 and 52.1 per cent, respectively, as do less than a half of those from North Eastern (35.2 per cent).

CREDIBLE POLLS
The study also showed that 72.8 per cent of Kenyans believe the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC) is capable of handling the elections well, and that 73.2 per cent believe the polls will be free and fair.

IEBC leads in terms of confidence in institutions associated with elections, those that are trusted “a lot”, at 66.2 per cent. Religious organisations follow at 64.2 per cent and the media 59.6 per cent.
Political parties did badly here as they led in “not at all” at 29.4 per cent. Police suffered similar fate, at 27.1 per cent.
According to the study, more than half of Kenyans, or 58.9 per cent, are not happy with how politicians are conducting themselves.
A whopping 94.2 per cent of the respondents are in agreement that politicians who incite violence should be barred from running for elective positions while 95.6 per cent say political parties should take stern punitive action against culprits.

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