72pc of Kenyans feel country headed in the wrong direction – poll
By Irene Githinji, July 28, 2021
Majority of Kenyans feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new survey shows.
A Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) report released yesterday shows that only 12 per cent of Kenyans believe that the country is headed in the right direction, which translates to just one in 10 people.
Research Analyst Tom Wolf, who presented the findings of the new report, said the survey revealed that nearly three-quarters of Kenyans, which is about 72 per cent, said the country is moving in the wrong direction.
“In regional terms, more residents of North Eastern gave a positive assessment on direction of the country (24 per cent) whereas few residents in Central and Coast did so,” said Wolf.
The highest level of dissatisfaction was in Coast, Central and Nairobi where only 6 per cent, 10 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively said the country is headed in the right direction.
Regarding the wrong direction, Coast had the highest level of dissatisfaction at 77 per cent, followed by Western and Nairobi with 76 per cent and 75 per cent respectively.
In Eastern and Central, 73 per cent of Kenyans said the country is headed in the wrong direction while in Nyanza, Rift Valley and North Eastern, 69 per cent, 68 per cent and 65 per cent of Kenyans said it is headed in the wrong direction.
“Among those who feel the country is moving in the right direction, a modest 18 per cent mentioned Covid-19, evidently in recognition of government efforts to both contain its spread and treat those affected.
Education sector
However, infrastructure improvement and various aspects of improvement in the education sector were also in the minds of a good number of these respondents (14 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively).
Even after stating their satisfaction with the country’s current direction, some 13 per cent of Kenyans were not able to cite any reason for holding this view, while several others (8 per cent) simply failed to respond to the question.
For those who feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, 54 per cent cited the status of economy, with 38 per cent saying high cost of living and 16 per cent said unemployment.