Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga have been named as most preferred candidates in the 2022 State House race polling at 38 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.
A study commissioned by an African based full market research firm whose findings were published on Friday revealed Ruto had lost a percentage point in terms preference by Kenyans having been scored at 39 per cent in June.
The study conducted between November 7 and 13 indicated preference for Odinga had risen by 15 per cent, having stood at 8 per cent in June.
Asked which candidate they thought President Kenyatta preferred to take over the reigns of power after the August 2022 presidential election, 48 per cent of 1,519 respondents interviewed said they believed Kenyatta preferred Odinga, up from 32 per cent who gave a similar response in June.
Nine per cent of the respondents thought Kenyatta preferred Ruto, down from 10 per cent who said so in June.
Baringo Senator Gideon Moi ranked third on the list of politicians the respondents felt President Kenyatta preferred at 2 per cent down from 6 per cent in June.
The poll listed Mudavadi in third place among candidates respondents thought Kenyans would prefer most. Mudavadi was scored at 2 per cent, down from 3 per cent in June.
Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) maintained momentum as most preferred parties for the 2022 General Election at 30 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
TIFA indicated that UDA’s popularity had increased from 21 per cent in June when ODM’s preference was reported at 9 per cent.
The governing Jubilee Party’s preference plummeted from 40 per cent in June 2020, 34 per cent in December 2020 and 8 per cent in June 2021 to settle at 5 per cent in November.
The TIFA poll also noted that UDA’s popularity was greater than ODM and Jubilee combined amid reports that the two formations could formalize a political union ahead of the 2022 polls.
“A striking finding is the rise of the UDA party since its emergence as the preferred electoral vehicle for DP Ruto and those allied to him, first captured in TIFA’s June, 2021 survey and repeated in this current one, so that as of now it is nearly twice as popular as its closest rival (ODM), and with official ruling party (Jubilee) now just a shadow of its former self in terms of popularity,” the pollster said.
The study conducted between November 7 and 13 listed Amani National Congress, Wiper Party and FORD-Kenya parties at par, all scoring 1 per cent.
A staggering 40 per cent of the respondents did not however identify with any political party.
