NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 24 – A new poll by Synovate Research group released on Saturday showed that most Kenyans would vote for the proposed constitution if the referendum were held today.
The results indicated that 64 percent of Kenyans would vote Yes, the No camp was enjoying 17 percent support while 19 percent were still undecided which way to vote.
Download a summary report of the poll here.
“Even those who claim not to have read the document, will pass it, the support is increasing compared to last month’s 60 percent support,” said Synovate Analyst Tom Wolf.
But of those who support the draft, two thirds have said they are unhappy about some clauses although they would still vote for it at the referendum.
Most unfortunate was that most Kenyans have not read the document hence even those who support or reject it were unlikely to explain their decision.
Synovate MD George Waititu said 82 percent of Kenyans had not obtained enough information while nine percent were confused by the information and opinions and another nine percent were not interested in the draft constitution.
Nyanza and Western provinces topped in support of the draft with 74 percent and 70 percent respectively while only 57 percent of the people in Rift Valley province and 53 percent in North Eastern would support the constitution.
“Nairobi – 66 percent, Central 61 percent, Coast 65 percent, and Eastern 58 percent would vote for the draft in the referendum,” the report indicated.
Interestingly only 10 percent of the 2,003 respondents said they completely understood the contents of the draft.
According to the research more men than women understood the constitution.
91 percent of respondents said a new constitution was important for the country and only 31 percent know what is contained in the draft, 45 know very little, while 14 percent know nothing about it.
Despite the concerted efforts to reject the draft by churches, 59 percent of Kenyans feel that Christian leaders were not justified to run the NO campaign but most of the influence was from the political class as 21 percent of Kenyans revealed.
The research indicated that 37 percent of Kenyans would not be influenced by anyone on the decision they will make on the constitution and 19 percent said they could be influenced by religious leaders.
Though Kadhis Courts have been points of argument by the NO church leaders, Mr Waititu said it was unlikely to cause a rejection of the draft at the referendum.
“The Kadhis courts do not look like an issue to really worry or dissuade them from voting for the draft, the voice of the public indicates it is not an issue,” he asserted.
“61 percent would support Kadhis courts and only 30 percent would not support, nine percent is undecided,” the report showed.
Based on the knowledge of the contents of the constitution, 74 percent would vote in support of it and 17 percent would reject it from an informed view, and without knowledge, 55 percent would support and only 26 percent would reject it since they don’t understand its contents.
According to prof Wolf, more Kenyans would support the draft when they understand it.
The survey was done this week and only eligible voters were interviewed in rural and urban areas.
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