Majority of Kenyans believe Uhuru can’t fight corruption – poll

Majority of Kenyans believe Uhuru can’t fight corruption – poll

Majority of Kenyans think that President Uhuru Kenyatta cannot fight corruption, a new poll reveals.

In the Sauti ya Wananchi poll released on Friday, 82 per cent of Kenyans think Uhuru will not succeed in his intention to focus on fighting corruption during his final five years in office.

Data was collected from 1,607 respondents from Kenya’s Sauti za Wananchi panel in the 22 round of calls conducted between September 27 and November 2, 2018.

According to the poll, the main reason Kenyans gave was lack of confidence. Forty per cent of the interviewed said the majority of government officials are corrupt.

Another 40 per cent said that Kenya has been corrupt for a long time and will not change easily. 39 per cent said that those responsible for corruption are in government.

Others noted that many of those who have been convicted of corruption were later freed (15 per cent) and that the President himself promotes corruption (per cent).

Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta for the first time said he wanted the renewed fight against graft to be his legacy.

Uhuru said corruption is an animal he wants to slay.  “We have been working quietly over the few years,” he stated.

“We have begun tackling corruption regardless of who you are…even if you are my family members…agencies are free to arrest anybody.”

The poll further indicated that a small number of people (17 per cent) think Uhuru will succeed while one per cent do not know whether he will succeed or not.

The main reasons given for optimism are that the President has shown determination on this issue (five per cent) or that he has good strategies to succeed (four per cent).

Others noted that some culprits are being prosecuted (three per cent), he has the support from key stakeholders (three per cent) and he has all the powers and authority to end it (two per cent).

Since the president took office in 2013 and was later re-elected in 2017, he has been grappling with the fight against corruption.

In 2015, Uhuru declared war on endemic corruption that was spiralling out of control. Since then, the Head of State has displayed vigour compounded with threats to take action against officers implicated in graft.

In that year, Uhuru made good his threat when he sacked some of his cabinet secretaries after tabling the famous list of shame.

Read: Multi-billion scandals: Uhuru still grappling with graft war, six years on

According to the poll, the most well-known corruption scandal among citizens is the National Youth Service case.

56 per cent say they have heard of the National Youth Service case of alleged corruption.

Read: List of suspects linked to Sh9bn NYS scandal

Other scandals are less well-known, including the National Cereals and Produce Board case (28 per cent), the sugar industry case (25 per cent), and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company case (15 per cent).

One out of 20 citizens (5 per cent) has heard of the case involving Migori Governor Okoth Obado.

Among those who have heard of these cases, the majority believe the allegations to be true.

The poll has +/-2.4% margin of error at 95% confidence level.