Ipsos lead researcher Tom
Wolf speaks when the
research company released its
opinion polls, May 10, 2014.
Kenyans have identified high
cost of living and insecurity as
the most critical issues the
country faces.
Although the high cost of
living still largely preoccupies
Kenyans – with 38 per cent
out of the 2,059 respondents
identifying it in the latest
Ipsos survey – insecurity
concerns have risen.
The ranking also show
Kenyans have put aside their
political differences after the
2013 elections to speak with
one voice regarding the
Jubilee Government after one
year in power.
The new Ipsos opinion poll
shows that Kenyans are more
concerned about their security,
with the recent cases of terror
attacks in Mombasa and
Nairobi compounding their
fears.
In that regard, majority of the
respondents think the country
was headed in the wrong
direction.
While identifying the main
problem they think the
country faces, more than twice
as many respondents
mentioned crime/insecurity as
they did three months ago, 17
per cent recently and 7 per
cent in February.
Regarding the recent effort to
improve national security
especially with “Operation
Usalama Watch”, Kenyans had
mixed reactions with more
than one third of respondents
believing that it will both
cause “more terrorist attacks”
and “a reduction in crime”
standing at 39 per cent and 37
per cent.
Last week, scores of people
lost their lives in Mombasa
and Nairobi blasts that
targeted travellers.
The pollsters believe the
situation would have been
different in terms of ratings if
the survey was conducted
after the grenade attacks.
KENYANS UNITED
Kenyans were united in
insecurity, high cost of living,
corruption and public
expenditure which were the
main thrust of the survey, the
second one this year to gauge
the performance of the
current government .
“However polarised people
were in the last general
elections, differences among
Kenyans have disappeared and
have almost similar views on
key issues affecting them.
“Insecurity is now pressing
down the high cost of living as
Kenyans are divided on the
issue of whether the Jubilee
Government is going in the
right direction or not,” said
Ipsos Social Political
Consultant Dr Tom Wolf.
Dr Wolf said although there
was grounds for optimism,
there was nothing to celebrate
about as most of the
respondents believe the
government was not going in
the right direction.
The survey shows that 60 per
cent of Kenyans who were
interviewed think that the
country is headed in the
wrong direction, while 26 per
cent have the contrary view;
while 13 per cent are either
not sure or did not give a
response.
The highest proportion of
those indicating that the
country is headed in the
wrong direction is from the
Coast and Nyanza regions,
both at 86 per cent.
However most positive
responses are found in Rift
Valley (46pc) and Central
regions (29pc) which are
Jubilee strongholds.
The poll conducted between
April 29 and May 7 showed
that 78 per cent of the
respondents believe that the
Jubilee Government was doing
worse than the previous
Grand Coalition government,
citing a number of critical
areas besides insecurity as
corruption, public expenditure
and unfulfilled election
promises.
Kenyans generally painted a
grim economic reality where
59 per cent stated their
economic conditions have
worsened.
This proportion has changed a
little over the previous two
surveys (six months).
In terms of political alignment,
nearly three times as many
respondents who identified
with Jubilee report an
improvement in such
conditions as do those who
identify with Cord at 28 per
cent and 10 per cent
respectively.
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE
As the debate on public
expenditure continues to take
centre stage, Kenyans have
suggested ways that would see
the government cut down on
its recurrent spending, with
fight against corruption being
given more prominence.
“Most frequently mentioned
idea is to reduce corruption,
with 49 per cent supporting
the move followed by cutting
salaries and allowances of
some or elected officials at 43
per cent and 40 per cent.
Dr Wolf said Kenyans have
concrete ideas on how public
expenditure can be cut given
that only 6 per cent of the
respondents do not seem to
know what was going on.
“Both supporters of Jubilee
and Cord seem to be reading
from the same script as they
are pretty much together on
reducing public expenditure,”
he said at the Ipsos Kenya
offices while releasing the
report to the media.
The survey highlighted some
change in the confidence
rating of leading officials and
institutions, with a fall in the
ratings of confidence for the
country’s two top leaders and
the media.
According to the poll, ratings
for the President and his
Deputy have both fallen by 9
per cent and 11per cent, while
for the media, it has fallen by
12 per cent.
Kenya Budget 2014.
