Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto is the leader of ‘Pesa Mashinani’.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 15 – More Kenyans support the ‘Pesa Mashinani ’ referendum call than those who approve of the ‘Okoa Kenya’ push, according to a new opinion poll by Ipsos Synovate.
The survey conducted between October 11 and 13 indicates that 53 percent of respondents support the push by the Council of Governors led by Isaac Ruto, while 39 percent disapprove of it. Seven percent said they were unsure or refused to respond.
Of those who support Pesa Mashinani, 80 percent are members of the opposition Coalition for Reforms in Democracy (CORD) while 28 percent are Jubilee loyalists.
In contrast, only 38 percent of Kenyans support the Raila Odinga-led Okoa Kenya call for a plebiscite, as 53 percent said they were not behind it. 75 percent of the supporters are CORD loyalists while 19 percent are from Jubilee.
The research noted that many Kenyans had not yet grasped the concept of devolution, a factor that was an impediment to the referendum bid.
“A slight majority (58 pc) stated the right number of counties in Kenya. Moreover, based on an index of civic knowledge crafted by IPSOS on the basis of data obtained in that survey, only one- quarter of all Kenyan citizens can be placed in the ‘high knowledge’ category, (28 pc),” stated the report.
Despite the stiff competition between the two plebiscite calls, it is widely rumored that they could be merging.
During a Church service in Vihiga County last Sunday Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula intimated that negotiations were in progress to have the two amalgamate.
“Discussions are underway between Okoa Kenya and governors as we seek unity for a common cause,” he said he is optimistic that the two groups will come together to ensure counties get more money for development.
The rumour is widely supported particularly by those within the CORD coalition since Governors allied to the Jubilee coalition and who were initially on the referendum bandwagon pulled back after the party warned them against contradicting the party stand.
Pundits have also indicated that coming together by the two would be the only reasonable thing to do since their agenda was the same save for a few.
Already the ‘OKOA Kenya’ referendum has claimed that it has exceeded the one million signatures mark and has enlisted two million supporters, adding that their target was five million.
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