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Kenyans believe country is headed in wrong direction, want high cost of living fixed

Sunday, April 18th, 2021 16:02 | By
President Uhuru Kenyatta giving a State of the Nation address Photo/PD/FILE

A survey by Infotrak shows that most Kenyans have lost trust in the Government and only a small percentage believe that the country is headed to the right direction.

In the 'State of the Nation' poll released on Saturday April 17, majority of Kenyans (65 per cent) believe that the country is heading to the wrong direction.

According to Infrotrak, Kenyans have increasingly lost trust in the Government since 2019 when 34 per cent believed the country was headed to the right direction. In 2020, the percentage increased to 18 and now, only 14 per cent of the population believe that Kenya is headed to the right way.

The majority of Kenyans who believe that the country is headed to the wrong way are from Nyanza region (78%) followed by the Eastern region(72%) and the Western region(71%).

The majority of those who feel the country is heading to the wrong direction cite high cost of living and unemployment. In December 2020, only 20 per cent of the population complained of high living cost but by March 2021, it has risen to 34 per cent.

Kenyans want the Government to urgently address high costs of living and an alarming unemployment rate.

In the last three months, the number of Kenyans complaining of high unemployment rates has increased from 18 per cent in December 2022 to 20 per cent in March 2021. The poll shows.

Other urgent matters that Kenyans need redress from the government are; high cost of living and access to affordable health care.

Of all the regions, Nairobians are the worst affected by unemployment where 25 per cent feel the need for an urgent government redress on the same.

Other things bothering Kenyans are; the economy, infrastructure, social services, the pandemic, bad governance and insecurity.

Financially and health wise, Kenyans have decried the effects of pandemic to their lives where it has eaten into their resources. In Nairobi, 27 per cent say that the pandemic is both a personal health and financial concern to them.

Over a quarter of the total population say they no longer have an income.

Kenyans were also affected by the Government lifting of Covid-19 tax relief measures where 61 percent said that the cost of life became extremely high.

Infotrak conducted the polls between in March (13th-16th) and covered 30 counties drawn from the 8 regions and assumed the poll results to be a representation of the whole Kenyan population.

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