45% Of Azimio Supporters Want MPs To Work With Ruto- TIFA Poll

A poll released by research firm Trends and Insights For Africa (TIFA) on Thursday, April 20, showed that nearly half of all Azimio la Umoja supporters prefer that their Members of Parliament (MP) work with the Kenya Kwanza government.

The survey revealed that 45 per cent of Azimio supporters want their MPs to work with Kenya Kwanza with the belief that they can bring development to locals.

However, 49 per cent of Azimio supporters remain loyal to the Raila Odinga-led coalition and disapprove of any working deals between the MPs and the government.

59 per cent of respondents whose MPs were elected on the Kenya Kwanza ticket also endorse Azimio MP's cooperation with the government while 34 per cent of Kenya Kwanza supporters object to such cooperation.

The poll also goes on to show that the majority of Kenyans believed that President William Ruto won the 2022 August 9 general elections, with 48 per cent sure that he would win, despite Raila alleging that he was rigged out of the polls.

37 Per Cent Say Ruto Did Not Win Polls Despite Voting For Him

However, 37 per cent of Kenyans felt that Ruto did not win the elections despite being declared the winner by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), with only 15 per cent unsure of whether he won.

75 per cent of those who voted for Ruto were sure that he would win the polls while 12 per cent believed he would not win, even though they voted for him. 14 per cent were unsure.

71 per cent of those who voted for Raila were sure that President Ruto did not win the election while only 14 per cent of Raila voters were certain that Ruto won, and 15 per cent were unsure.

The then IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati declared Ruto as the winner with a total vote count of 7,176,141 (50.49 per cent) against Raila with a total of 6,942,930 (48.85 per cent).

Since the victory, which the Supreme Court validated after Raila filed a petition which was dismissed, the former Prime Minister has been clamouring for the servers to be opened to ascertain who really won the election.

Azimio's Shrinking Popularity

At the same time, Tifa Research indicated lowering popularity for the Azimio la Umoja coalition with a current rate of 36 per cent compared to 46 per cent in July 2022. For the same period of time, Kenya Kwanza's popularity rose from 40 per cent to 49 per cent. 

The poll came amidst, among others, a number of MPs declaring to work with Kenya Kwanza, which Azimio has been faulting in its push to maintain multiparty democracy and keep the ruling government in check.

Kenyans' Stance On Uhuru Avoiding Politics & Retiring

Tifa Research also revealed that 59 per cent of Kenyans prefer that former President Uhuru Kenyatta should avoid politics and enjoy his retirement benefits, but five per cent of Kenyans are undecided about whether the former Head of State should be active in politics or enjoy his retirement.

“Only slightly over one-third of Kenyans (36%) believe that retired President Uhuru should remain active in politics. Even among Azimio supporters whose presidential candidate he supported in last year’s election (Odinga) barely half (51%) feel he should remain politically active in retirement, though (unsurprisingly) an overwhelming majority of Kenya Kwanza supporters (70%) hold a contrary view.

The poll was conducted from March 11 to March 19, 2023, with 2,065 respondents and had a ±2.12% margin of error.

The data was collected after the research firm conducted face-to-face interviews at the household level in 9 regions; Central Rift, Coast, Lower Eastern, Mt Kenya, Nairobi, Northern, Nyanza, South Rift, and Western, and were conducted in (mainly) Swahili and English.