• Machogu he said it promotes a certain partisan political agenda.
Image: FILE
Some candidates vying for various political seats in Kisii have dismissed a Tifa opinion poll which gave them a trailing score.
They separately claimed the poll failed to capture the real picture on the ground.
UDA governor candidate Ezekiel Machogu rejected the poll ratings on Saturday at his Masige West farm.
The research, he said, promoted a certain partisan political agenda.
"You only have to look at how they portrayed Kenya Kwanza across the country to realise how skewed the results are," he told journalists.
Machogu said there is often high commercialisation of opinion polls in the country during campaigns.
According to the poll, ODM's Simba Arati leads the gubernatorial race with 66 per cent, followed by Machogu at 11 per cent.
Former Senator Chris Obure of Jubilee came a distant third at 3 per cent. Incumbent Senator Sam Ongeri, who is vying on DAP K, had 2 per cent.
He tied with Manson Oyongo of Kenya National Congress Party.
Undecided voters were 15 per cent.
Obure has since rejected the poll ratings. He told his supporters Saturday to focus on victory.
"The main thing is the ballot is not skewed opinion polls," he said.
In the senator race, Kitutu Chache South MP Richard Onyonka had 27 per cent followed by Omingo Magara of Jubilee at 9 per cent.
UDA's Joash Maangi trails at 5 per cent, according to the pollster.
Magara told the Star on the phone he is optimistic of winning.
"Opinion polls are never a true reflection of the actual polling results. I can equally decide to fund my opinion survey to give me a 100 per cent score," he told the Star on the phone.
He said Jubilee party has strong chances of winning on all fronts.
"I'm not focusing on opinion polls. My attention is on the voters who will measure my potential," Magara said.
Maangi weighed in saying "it is an open secret" that he is digits ahead of the pack.
In the woman representative race, former radio presenter Donya Toto is likely has 32 per cent popularity, according to the poll, while incumbent Janet Ongera is second at 15 per cent.
Theresa Bitutu is third with 3 per cent and Rachel Otundo closes the top four with 2 per cent.
Ongera said that with or without opinion polls, she is on course to win in the upcoming polls.