You could have done better, Jubilee told one year later in latest opinion poll

By ISAAC MESO

Kenya: One in every four Kenyans sleeps on an empty stomach every day due to the high cost of food. This is according to a new study released by Ipsos Kenya.

The study released yesterday revealed that Nyanza Province was leading with 37 per cent as the province with the highest number of people starving due to the rising cost of living.

The study has also shown that a majority of Kenyans trust the media, with 43 per cent saying they would believe in what they see and hear from it, followed by the President at 41 per cent and then religious leaders at 39 per cent.

Inflation declined

On most serious issues affecting Kenyans today, the study shows that the rate of inflation had declined by 6 per cent to 50 per cent as compared to four months ago when it was at 56 per cent.

Most Kenyans feel that unemployment is the second most serious problem at the moment, with concerns over this rising from 14 per cent last year to 19 per cent. Insecurity comes third followed by corruption in that order.

Ipsos Kenya researcher Tom Wolf said the study was conducted between February 8 and 15, and its sample size was 2,031 Kenyan adults living in urban and rural areas.

The study also revealed that most Kenyans want the cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) stopped. Forty six per cent of Kenyans said they did not want the ICC trials continued since the Prosecutor did not have evidence against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

This percentage has risen by 16 per cent since November last year when only 30 per cent of Kenyans supported the withdrawal of cases facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.

The study further shows that most Kenyans still feel that Jubilee Government has not yet recorded any major achievement, with 51 per cent supporting the same. However, this is a 3 per cent decrease compared to last year when the figure stood at 54 per cent.

Despite this, 16, 14 and 11 per cent of those interviewed identified improvements in health care, the educational system and infrastructure respectively. “These figures compare with 30,11 and 6 per cent for these same three sectors respectively as per last November,” noted wolf.

On the issue of access to health care, the study shows that most Kenyans still depend on public hospitals, with 29 per cent of Kenyans saying they access medical care from regional Government hospitals against 17 per cent who seek medical care from private hospitals.