Majority of Kenyans think the country is heading in the wrong direction, a new opinion poll has shown. This according to Infotrak Managing Director Angela Ambitho while addressing journalists in Nairobi on March 13, 2016 where she said that 53 per cent of Kenyans believe that the Country is headed to the wrong direction.
The poll released Sunday by research firm Infotrak indicated that 53 per cent of Kenyans were of the opinion that the country is going in the wrong direction, while 44 per cent were of the opposite opinion. Three per cent did not know which direction the country was heading to.
“While the majority still think the country needs to urgently improve, it is important to note that the percentage of those feeling disgruntled with the state of affairs has reduced by nine per cent. 62pc of Kenyans felt the country was headed in the wrong direction in 2015,” said Ms Angela Ambitho, Infotrak CEO.
Ms Ambitho said the level of pessimism has fallen due to lower terror attacks in the country this year as compared to last year and the fact that the President is now seen to be taking tough actions against the corrupt.
“The improvement could be attributed to some of the actions the Jubilee government and President Uhuru Kenyatta have taken to deal with the issues that were driving the negative perception and more particularly corruption,” she said.
When the Infotrak November 2015 poll was conducted, majority of Kenyans felt the government was turning a blind eye to run-away corruption.
“In addition, the fact that various cabinet slots had been unfilled over successive months left people in a state of limbo,” added Ms Ambitho while presenting the poll results to journalists at the research firm’s Nairobi office.
The November 2015 resignation of the embattled former Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, noted Ms Ambitho, seemed to have sent warning signals to Kenyans that the President was finally ready to tackle the bull by its horns.
Those living in the Rift Valley (50 per cent), Central (60 per cent) and North Eastern (51 per cent) regions expressed a high optimism level saying the country was headed in the right direction while only 30 per cent from Nyanza, 38 per cent from Nairobi, Coast and Western and 42 per cent from Eastern regions were of a similar opinion.
The opinion also varied according to party support with the majority of Jubilee supporters (57 per cent) saying the country was headed in the right direction with only 34 per cent of the opposition coalition supporters agreeing with the same opinion.
“More Jubilee supporters think the country is going in the right direction than those who don’t. It’s imperative to note however that more than a third of Jubilee supporters; 38% aren't happy,” said Ms Ambitho.
The poll was conducted between March 6 and 10 with a sample size of 1800 respondents representing the country’s voter population of 19,483,435.
The poll also revealed that the top three issues disturbing Kenyans most were corruption, high cost of living and unemployment.
Thirty two per cent want corruption dealt with while 17 per cent say unemployment remains their biggest issue of concern. Another 12 per cent said they were worried by the high cost of living.
