Emuhaya’s Ottichilo tops list of elected MPs with the highest approval rating

Emuhaya’s Wilber Ottichilo has been ranked as the elected MP with the highest approval rating from his constituents, according to a new survey by Infotrak Research & Consulting.

Dr Ottichilo, 53, is a second-term MP, having first joined the National Assembly in early 2008 to replace Mr Kenneth Marende, who had been elected Speaker.

Yesterday, the ODM lawmaker said he was thrilled to hear he had the highest approval rating among his 289 elected colleagues.

He was followed by Sirisia MP John Waluke, a first-time legislator. In third place was Teso South’s Mary Emaase.

Mr Kimani Ichungwah of Kikuyu constituency — who is also the vice-chairman of the Public Investments Committee — had the fourth highest approval rating, with Rarieda’s Nicholas Gumbo rounding off the top five.

Ms Angela Ambitho, the CEO of Infotrak, said 29,000 respondents were interviewed countrywide with at least 100 from each sub-county in the survey conducted between last December and February.

Completing the list of the top 10 elected MPs in the County Trak Index were legislators from Chuka-Igamba-Ng’ombe, Ugenya, Likuyani, Mvita, Sotik, Suna East and Budalang’i.

QUITE VOCAL

Most of these MPs have been quite vocal on the floor of the National Assembly or have been active members of their various parliamentary committees. Others are youthful but influential players in their political parties.

Ms Ambitho said respondents were only asked about their general rating, but not on specific questions about their MPs’ performance.

“It’s important to note that the index is limited to the perception of the respective sub-county residents. For instance, the CountyTrak MPs’ index for Emuhaya was determined only by the residents of Emuhaya Sub-County/Constituency,” she told the Nation.

Residents were asked a general question: “How would you rate the performance of your MP on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is extremely poor and 10 is excellent?”

Although the findings are based on perception, the researchers said the thinking could guide the voters’ choice of leaders in the next elections. This means that if a constituent is not happy with the performance of a legislator, it could affect his choice were elections to be held.

“All we did was to ask them to weight their elected leaders,” Ms Ambitho said. “But in the end, even with elections we know that the residents could choose their leaders based on their perception of their (candidates’) ability to work.”

The list indicates a poor show of elected MPs in Nairobi County. With massive traffic jams and other challenges associated with urban growth and poor planning, residents generally ranked Nairobi MPs below the country average of 59.0 per cent.

Of the 17 constituencies in Nairobi, only Kamukunji’s Yusuf Hassan was above average. Most were below 50 while the rest were between 50 (Mr Maina Kamanda of Starehe) and 58.9 (Mr George Theuri of Embakasi West).

MPS FROM WESTERN

Generally, MPs from western Kenya had the highest approval rating with five of them ranked in the top ten.

In the second tier — which ranked MPs with an approval rating of between 70 and 74 — Rift Valley emerged as the best performer with seven out of 20 slots followed by legislators from the greater Mt Kenya region.

Embakasi East MP John Ogutu Omondi had the lowest approval among his constituents with only 41.5 per cent saying he was doing a good job.

His counterpart from Githunguri Constituency in Kiambu County, Mr Njoroge Baiya, was second from last, followed by Khwisero’s Benjamin Andanyi. Zakayo Cheruiyot of Kuresoi and Ibraim Saney of Wajir North completed the bottom five.

Others who did not impress their constituents were Jaldesa Banticha of Isiolo South, Charles Geni of North Mugirango, Lari’s Mburu Kahangara, Mohamud Maalim of Mandera West and Abdulaziz Farah. All had an approval rating of less than 45 per cent.

Meanwhile, some of the senators who ranked poorly in the poll published yesterday faulted the survey and threatened to stop the Nation from covering Senate’s proceedings.

They said the survey commissioned by the Nation was not a true reflection of their performance.

DISCUSS SURVEY

Wajir Senator Abdirahman Hassan, who was ranked 43rd in the poll, moved a Motion to discuss the survey, asking the House to pass a resolution to ban the Nation from covering the proceedings for publishing it.

“The yardstick used to measure senators is incomprehensible. The information carried in the Nation newspaper cannot go unchallenged,” said the deputy Minority Leader.

His colleagues who performed dismally supported him saying such a poll did not reflect what they had done in their counties.

Migori Senator Wilfred Machage, who was ranked at No. 25, said: “We want to be told what parameters were used to rank us. I do not believe this poll at all...Someone has been ranked first yet his county has faced a range of attacks.”

Although Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale was ranked among the top performers, he supported the angered colleagues saying the poll failed to capture the performance of the nominated senators.

And Nominated Senator Elizabeth Ongoro said: “The poll should have been specific that it was about elected senators. Not capturing others gives the impression that women are not doing anything in the House.”