Kenya’s 2017 General Election will head to a runoff if the race is Uhuru Kenyatta vs Raila Odinga.
A new study by Spectrum Network International showed that if elections were held today, the front runners would be President Uhuru Kenyatta and CORD leader Raila Odinga, but none would achieve the over 50% of total votes as required by the Constitution.
According to the research that involved over 2,400 respondents, President Kenyatta would emerge the winner with only 40% while Mr Odinga would follow with 32%.
A runoff would then follow as stipulated in the constitution that the winning candidate must register a win of at least 50% plus one of the casted votes.
Releasing the findings, Spectrum CEO Sam Mwanyasi said that the country had continuously lost confidence in the Jubilee government due to rampant corruption, economic decline and insecurity, with only 9% being satisfied with the security situation.
The report further indicated that with the election mood setting in, majority of respondents said that they would not be swayed by political parties in making decisions on who to vote for.
Mr Mwanyasi also revealed that the confidence of Kenyans in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had declined, with only 52% believing that the Commission was capable of conducting the 2017 Election.
The survey was carried out over the last three months, with an aim of understanding the election mood and perceptions on security in the country.
The polls come amid a growing concern within the political coalitions over the low number of Kenyans turning up to register as voters, in the ongoing registration exercise.
IEBC has already admitted that it might not achieve its target of registering four million additional voters during the exercise which ends in March this year.
