Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja is more popular in the city governor race than Polycarp Igathe, an opinion poll released yesterday shows.
Research by polling firm Tifa shows that Sakaja leads with with 40 per cent, with Igathe trailing by eight percentage points.
Some 28 per cent of Nairobians are undecided.
Sakaja, who is vying on United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, is preferred by female voters, with Igathe winning over male voters.
The Nairobi senator’s academic credentials were also put into question, with the majority of the city’s voters doubting he has a valid university degree.
A third of Nairobi voters believe Sakaja’s Team University degree is genuine, with 36 per cent thinking it is fake and an equal number unsure of its validity.
Interestingly, a fifth of the senator’s supporters think his degree is fake and half of them think it is genuine.
According to the Tifa poll, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition whose presidential candidate is Raila Odinga, would win the Senate and Woman Representative seats.
On presidential poll, Raila would beat Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi if elections were held today.
The poll shows that Raila would get half of the capital city’s 2.5 million votes trouncing Ruto who commands 25 per cent.
The Azimio presidential candidate's support in Nairobi, according to Tifa's poll conducted on Monday, has gone up from 44 per cent in May, with Ruto’s dipping from 37 per cent last month.
In the last two elections, the ODM leader garnered the larger share of Nairobi votes, beating President Uhuru Kenyatta marginally.
But the gap he is said to enjoy over Ruto could be critical in tilting the scale.
Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah would be third with seven per cent, with 80 per cent of his supporters being below 35 years.
The figure is lower than the percentage of undecided voters which stands at 18 per cent.
A third of those polled in May were undecided, meaning their number has shrunk.
In the Senate race, ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna is preferred by a third of the city’s voters. Margaret Wanjiru of UDA enjoys the support of nine per cent.
Interestingly, two-thirds of the city residents are undecided on who to elect as Sakaja’s successor in the Senate.
If elections were held today, Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris would keep her seat with 32 per cent of the vote, beating Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga by 13 per cent.
About half of those who contributed to the poll are yet to make a choice of their preferred candidate.
Some 632 Nairobi voters participated in the survey listing the Azimio coalition as the most popular in Nairobi with 46 per cent, while Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza came second at 24 per cent.
The figure represents a two per cent increase in Azimio’s popularity with the same percentage drop for Kenya Kwanza.
A third of the county’s population, however, holds no affiliation to the major political outfits.
Tifa says that a third of their respondents have completed their secondary school education.
Twenty per cent have college education with the same number being university graduates.
