Opinion polls and surveys carried out between May and July continue to place the Fomer Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga in lead less than 48 hours to the election day.
Kenya goes to the polls on Tuesday in a tight race to elect the fifth president since the Mau Mau rebellion ushered in independence from Britain close to 60 years ago.
The stakes are high, the fight for victory has become imminent with probable triumph drawn as competition stiffens between presidential candidates; Raila Odinga, 77 and William Ruto, 55.
INFOTRAK polls conducted between 23rd and 27th May give Raila Odinga a 42% lead with his nemesis, William Ruto at 38% as reported by Kenya based NATION Media.
A recent survey by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) found that Odinga was the most preferred candidate at 46.7%, while Ruto polled 44.4% with George Wajackoyah and David Mwaure Waihiga sharing the insignificant 5.9% excluding the spoils.
Odinga’s lead is attributed to his political dynamism, democratic championship and leadership experience while those that support Ruto believe he presents hope with a clearer plan for the country’s future.
From an initial shortlist of 17, four candidates were cleared to run for president, the smallest number since Kenya’s multiparty inception in the early 1990s.
Veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga, 77 is the oldest of the four presidential candidates. He enjoys corroborative support from his longtime rival Kenyatta under the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition. The former prime minister has a record 4 times loss at the presidency spanning from the 1997 elections, 2007, 2013 and 2017.
David Mwaure, 65, is an ordained minister and an assertively daunting lawyer contesting on the ‘Agano’ (Promise) Party ticket.
George Wajackoyah, 63, a former Nairobi street kid turned lawyer is running for the Rastafarian-inspired Roots Party, campaigning on a pledge to legalise marijuana, export hyena testicles and snake venom to China.
William Ruto, 55, the youngest of them all has served as a lawmaker and agriculture minister before becoming deputy president in 2013. A hustler as he identifies him self portays the a true definition of ‘from grass to Grace’. He is the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) flag bearer pledging to fight for “hustlers” trying to make ends meet.
About 22.1 million voters are expected to participate in this year’selectios, a drop since the last poll. Nearly 40% of these are aged between 18 and 34.
A total of 46,229 polling stations will be open from 6 am to 5 pm on the polling day.
Election of the president, for a five year term is by direct popular vote. The winner needs 50 percent plus one vote and at least a quarter of the votes in 24 of the 47 counties.
The African Union, the European Union and the Commonwealth are among those who have sent observers to monitor the election’s final preparations, process and final results.
In 2017, court scrapped the election results declaring Kenyatta’s win null and void after a petition by his rival Odinga basing on irregularities and illegalities that dominated the counting process and exposed a series of mismanagement deeds by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Kenya.
Uhuru went on to win the rematch after an opposition boycott.
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