Tight races as incumbents face threats of being dislodged
In Migori Woman Rep race, ODM candidate Dennitah Ghati (left) enjoys a slim lead of 24 percent over her political archrival Fatuma Mohammed (independent) who has 23 percent.
The races for the Migori, Nyamira and Kisii Woman Rep seats are shaping up into titanic battles, with the leading candidates not resting easy as the gap is too narrow with just four days before the polls.
The contests for the Kajiado and Narok senator seats are also tight, with the leading candidates enjoying only a one percent lead, according to the latest opinion polls released by Infotrak.
The poll shows that in Migori, ODM candidate Dennitah Ghati enjoys a slim lead of 24 percent over her political archrival Fatuma Mohammed, who has 23 percent, indicating that the race will go to the wire.
Ms Mohammed protested during ODM primaries after Ms Ghati was declared the winner. She said voting was shambolic and vowed to go all the way to the ballot as an independent candidate.
The poll, conducted on July 22, sampled 600 respondents from all the eight constituencies and 40 wards of Migori County. As with the other surveys, this was meant to ensure the findings were representative of each county’s voters.
At the time the poll was conducted, 36 percent of the respondents were still undecided while eight percent refused to answer.
In the Narok senatorial race, incumbent Ledama Ole Kina is not sitting easy as he leads with 33 percent and is followed closely by outgoing Governor Samuel Tunai at 32 percent, signalling another titanic battle on who will make it to the 13th Parliament.
In the Narok senatorial race, incumbent Ledama Ole Kin (left) is not sitting easy as he leads with 33 percent, followed closely by outgoing Governor Samuel Tunai at 32 percent.
The poll, conducted on July 16, sampled 800 respondents from all the six constituencies and 30 wards of Narok County.
Of those polled, 24 percent were still undecided while four percent refused to answer.
In the Nyamira Woman Rep race, it is a neck to neck race between Jubilee and the Raila Odinga-led ODM as the incumbent Jerusha Momanyi (Jubilee) is leading with 24 percent but is followed closely by Emily Kwamboka (ODM), who polled 23 percent.
Still undecided
Ms Kwamboka is former Nyamira governor John Nyagarama’s daughter and is making her first stab at the seat.
The poll for this race was conducted on July 22. Some 600 respondents from all the four constituencies and 20 wards of Nyamira were interviewed.
In Kajiado, another race going to the wire is that for the Senate seat. Judith Pareno, former chairperson of the ODM National Elections Board, is leading with 17 percent, followed closely by United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Seki Lenku Ole Kanar, who has 16 percent.
More worrying, however, according to the poll, is that almost half, 48 percent, of those polled were still undecided.
The poll, which had a sample size of 800 respondents, covered five constituencies and 25 wards of Kajiado County. Six percent of the respondents refused to answer.
In Kisii County, the contest for the woman representative seat is shaping up to be a repeat of the 2017 duel, as the poll results indicate that Wiper candidate Doris Aburi is leading the incumbent with four percentage points.
Ms Aburi leads with 24 percent with the incumbent Janet Ong’era (ODM) coming second with 20 percent.
But 40 percent of the 1,200 respondents who participated in the poll were still undecided, with six percent also refusing to answer the question on their preferred candidate.
The poll was conducted on July 20, with respondents from all the nine constituencies and 45 wards of Kisii County.
In the 2017 contest, Ms Ong’era trounced Ms Aburi by garnering 165,885 votes against Ms Aburi’s 140,627.
In this year’s contest, Ms Aburi decamped to the Kalonzo Musyoka-led Wiper party after ODM handed Ms Ong’era a direct ticket during primaries.
