Most Kenyans open to w***n DP – poll
More Kenyans are willing to vote for a presidential candidate with a female running-mate, a survey released yesterday says.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day today, the survey conducted by Trends and Insights for Africa (Tifa) found that the acceptability of a female Deputy President had gone up.
Tifa’s opinion poll says 78 per cent of those interviewed believe the country will have a female Deputy President within the next two election cycles.
Those considered to have a greater chance of rising to the position are governors Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua who were preferred to pair with Deputy President William Ruto or ODM leader Raila Odinga in the impending polls.
The three emerged as potential candidates for the position for either camp with Waiguru leading on Ruto’s side.
Active role
Waiguru is in the delegation accompanying the Deputy President on the 10-day overseas trip.
Ngilu is a member of Raila’s campaign secretariat and has been actively involved in his rallies across the country.
Karua is a member of the One Kenya Alliance, the coalition bringing together Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper party), Gideon Moi (Kanu) and Cyrus Jirongo (UDP).
Tifa said Kenyans were noticing the active role the three were playing in the political space ahead of the elections.
Presidential ran
“There are three women who stand out as potential running mates for the two leading presidential aspirants (Anne Waiguru, Martha Karua and Charity Ngilu). All three women have previous experience as Cabinet secretaries and have an intention to run for gubernatorial seats in the 2022 elections,” said Tifa, which sponsored the survey that had a sample of 1,541 respondents. It was conducted between February 3 and 9.
Ngilu and Karua have had unsuccessfully ran for president in the the1997 and 2013 elections.
None of the leading presidential candidates in the previous two elections picked a female running mate.
Tifa also found that most Kenyans were still not ready for a woman president even though they do not mind them being a deputy.
“For Ruto, there is a higher recommendation for a female running mate among the youth compared to the older generation. For Raila, the same mentions are at par for both genders,” the poll found.
Youth backing
Regionally, Ruto appears to be the most preferred to have a female running mate than Raila with most of the respondents saying he should pick one from the Mt Kenya region.
Forty-one per cent of those interviewed said the Deputy President could pick a running mate from the region while 32 per cent want Raila to do so.
The youths appear to be driving the narrative, as 44 per cent of young people prefer Ruto to have a woman in his presidential ticket while 29 per cent of them think Raila should have a female running mate from the Mt Kenya region.
Other than the deputy presidency, positions respondents thought a woman could occupy soon are Speaker of the National Assembly (76 per cent) and Senate Speaker (77 per cent).
Raila is holding a series of rallies this week across the country before the Azimio la Umoja delegates meeting in Nairobi on Saturday. The meeting is expected to declare the movement’s presidential candidate and possible running mate.
Ruto is also expected to name his running mate at the end of next month when his United Democratic Alliance party holds its National Delegates Convention.
