A survey conducted by Tifa Research suggests
that the majority of Kenyans who are in support of the proposed removal from office
through impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua are those who
supported Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga in the 2022 General
Election.
Overall, 41 per cent of Kenyans aware
of Gachagua’s impeachment support the bid to remove him from office compared to
31 per cent who oppose the move.
Majority of the opponents (69 per cent)
are from Mt Kenya while 28 per cent are from other regions; 20 per cent of people
from the Mountain support the ouster compared to 47 per cent from other
regions.
But when narrowed down to the voting
patterns during the August 2022 polls, the survey shows a clear contrast
between those who declared they voted for Ruto and Raila.
Raila’s 2022 voters are more
supportive, polling 54 per cent, against Ruto’s 2022 voters (34 per cent).
“Do you support or oppose the
impeachment of the Deputy President?” was the question put across the voters
after they declared who they voted for in 2022.
Responses to this question regarding those
opposed to Gachagua’s removal indicated that 45 per cent of Ruto supporters are
opposed to the ouster of his principal assistant compared to 29 per cent of
Raila supporters.
In the 2022
elections, Ruto beat Raila to second position with 7,176,141 votes (50.49 per
cent) and attained at least 25 per cent of total valid votes across 39
counties.
Raila got
6,492,930 votes (48.85 per cent) and attained at least 25 per cent of valid
votes cast in 34 counties.
The survey was conducted between October 1 and
4, 2024 across nine regions of Mt Kenya, Central Rift, Central, Nyanza,
Western, Nairobi, Lower Eastern, Coast, Northern and South Rift.
A sample size
of 1,892 people aged 18 years and above were interviewed through telephonic
interviews with the survey result recording a +/- 2.25 per cent margin of error.
Data
collection was completed before the two days of public participation began on
Friday, October 4.
“As of
today, it is too early to predict what the outcome of this impeachment
process will be,” Tifa Research said in the report released on Monday.
When asked
about their rating of Gachagua’s performance, Ruto’s 2022 supporters are more
positive.
“How would
you rate the performance of the Deputy President during his time in office up
to now?” was the question.
Twenty-two
per cent of Ruto supporters said it’s excellent against nine Raila supporters
who held a similar view.
However, more
Raila supporters (32 per cent) said Gachagua’s performance has thus far been
average compared to 30 per cent of Ruto supporters.
Eighteen per
cent of Raila supporters said it’s been a poor performance against 7 per cent of Ruto supporters while 23 per cent of Ruto supporters said it’s been good compared to
14 per cent of Raila supporters who held a similar view.