Pollsters on the spot after William Kabogo loss

The credibility of opinion polls is being questioned following a decisive win by Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu over Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, against pollsters’ predictions.

The two were competing for the gubernatorial seat during the Jubilee party nominations in Kiambu County on Tuesday. The MP garnered 353,604 votes against the incumbent’s 69,916.

The result comes barely three weeks after an opinion poll by Infotrack showed Mr Kabogo would get 48.9 per cent of the votes against Mr Waititu’s 31.8 per cent, if elections were to be held on April 7.

STRONGHOLD

By getting the Jubilee ticket, Mr Waititu is almost certain to be elected Kiambu governor in the August 8 General Election because the county is a Jubilee stronghold.

All eyes will now be on the other counties that have been featured by pollsters. In Nairobi, the pollster said Dr Evans Kidero would be re-elected as governor by 35.3 per cent of voters.

According to Infotrack, his closest challenger for the capital’s gubernatorial seat would be Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, who was competing against former MP Peter Kenneth for the Jubilee party ticket in primaries held yesterday.

In Meru, the pollster said Senator Kiraitu Murungi would lose to incumbent Peter Munya in the governor’s race.

In Mombasa, the survey showed incumbent Hassan Joho would retain his seat by getting 62.8 per cent of the vote, beating Suleiman Shahbal of Jubilee (8.2 per cent).