By David Clarke
Saturday, February 27, 2010
REUTERS/Radu Sigheti
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga's failed attempt to suspend two ministers linked to corruption investigations appears to be winning him favour with voters, a new opinion poll showed.
Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga holds the Bible as he is sworn in during a ceremony for a 41-member power-sharing cabinet at the State House in Nairobi April 17, 2008.
The poll by Nairobi-based Strategic Research Limited, published in newspapers on Friday, said 55 percent of Kenyans trust Odinga to lead the fight against graft, followed by President Mwai Kibaki on just 14 percent and trailing in all eight provinces of the country.
Odinga created a storm in the fragile coalition government earlier this month by ordering the suspension of two ministers to allow investigations into major scandals over maize sales and the diversion of funds meant for schools.
Odinga and Kibaki were forced into a unity government in 2008 following post-election violence that killed some 1,300 people after Odinga said he had been cheated of the presidency by the incumbent Kibaki.
But the coalition has struggled to make substantial progress on reforms, or tackling corruption, due to persistent bickering between the camps that has disillusioned many Kenyans and made the government deeply unpopular.
FIRE AND PROSECUTE
Rampant graft has dogged Kenya for decades and the growing frustration among people living in a country ranked as the most corrupt in east Africa was evident in the poll.
Asked what was the most important issue facing east Africa's biggest economy, corruption came first with 38 percent, followed by political instability on 20 percent.
Seventy percent said Odinga was right to suspend the two ministers while 75 percent said Kibaki was wrong to reinstate them. An overwhelming 82 percent said ministers and officials accused of corruption should be fired and prosecuted -- and six percent said they should be executed.
The poll also showed how fed up most Kenyans are with the performance of the government, with 61 percent fearing the rifts could derail a new constitution seen as crucial for avoiding more violence at the next election in 2012.
Only 17 percent said they were satisfied with the power sharing arrangements and one of the main gripes was that there seemed to be no rapport between Odinga and Kibaki.
The poll was conducted with 1,600 Kenyan adults in face-to-face interviews on Feb 18-19, the week after the row about the ministers. The error margin was 1.79 percent.
Source: Reuters