UHURU BEATS RAILA IN NEW POLL RATINGS

A new opinion poll by Ipsos Ltd shows the confidence level in President Uhuru Kenyatta has sharply risen following his appearance at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The poll shows that the proportion of Kenyans indicating that they have “a lot of confidence” in President Kenyatta has risen from 43 per cent to 71 per cent. The poll was conducted between October 11 and 13.

Confidence ratings for Deputy President William Ruto, Attorney-General Githu Muigai and Cabinet secretaries have also risen, according to the poll.

Those with "a lot of confidence" in Mr Ruto stand at 62 per cent, up from 43 per cent in August, while ratings for Cabinet secretaries rose to 42 per cent from 17 per cent.

Twice as many Jubilee supporters, 90 per cent, stated having "a lot of confidence" in President Kenyatta compared with 44 per cent among Cord supporters.

The poll also shows support for the Pesa Mashinani referendum campaign is at 53 per cent, higher than support for the Okoa Kenya initiative, which stands at 38 per cent.

Support by Jubilee loyalists for the Pesa Mashinani campaign is at 28 per cent, while it is at 80 per cent among Cord supporters.

On the other hand, support for Okoa Kenya stands at 38 per cent, with 53 per cent of respondents saying they do not support it. Another nine per cent of respondents were either not sure or declined to give their views.

A great challenge for proponents of a referendum is that a significant portion of the public remain unaware of devolution.

Asked about the adequacy of the security assigned to ODM leader Raila Odinga, 55 per cent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction, while 32 per cent said it is sufficient.

The poll was conducted among 1,699 respondents living in urban and rural areas. Only those with mobile phones were interviewed.