• Survey also finds a thin line between the level of education and the living conditions of those interviewed.
• Seventy eight per cent of interviewees are in support of last year's March 9 handshake that gave birth to the Building Bridges Initiative.
Image: FILE
Youths and women are convinced that President Uhuru Kenyatta is steering the country in the right direction even as they attest to hard economic times.
This is even as the majority of those in support of Kenyatta’s style of governance express scepticism in the manner the economy is managed.
The findings are contained in a survey report released on Wednesday by firm Afrobarometer in all 47 counties and labelled ‘Citizens’ perceptions of the economy’.
The survey conducted between August and September involved 2,400 interviewees. It prides of having a 95 per cent accuracy level and a margin error of just +/-2 per cent.
If the findings are anything to go by, the President’s biggest problem lies in the manner the economy is managed, scarcity of job creation and failure to keep prices of various commodities in check.
The report says 61 per cent of women and 56 per cent of youths have a problem with how the economy is managed despite 46 per cent of them believing in Jubilee’s future.
So too, despite half of the youths supporting Kenyatta’s administration moving forward, 56 per cent still have an issue with his economic blueprint indicating worsening living conditions.
Half of the respondents assert that they did not have full access to basic necessities of food, water and healthcare.
The poll says that 44 per cent of respondents expressed confidence in the country heading in the right direction.
Ironically, those in support of Kenyatta’s style of governance raised a concern of the harsh economic conditions they had to grapple with in the last 12 months.
The survey shows that at least 50 per cent of the youths interviewed had hope that the economic condition improves in the next year.
Those with no formal education top the list of people hoping for a better 2020.
Those worst hit by the bad economic times largely comprised those with no formal education and those aged above 35.
The survey also finds a thin line between the level of education and the living conditions of those interviewed.
At least 50 per cent of respondents with post-secondary education, for example, described their living conditions as good.
Only 40 per cent of those with secondary education termed their living condition as good. It declines to 36 per cent for those who had only primary education and further down to 31 per cent for those with no formal education at all.
Corruption, unemployment, limited access to healthcare, poor management of the economy stand as Kenya’s most troubling issues.
Handshake
Seventy eight per cent of the interviewees are in support of last year's March 9 handshake that gave birth to the Building Bridges Initiative.
Nevertheless, 17 per cent felt the handshake was not necessary and disagreed that it was the vehicle to achieve national unity while five per cent neither pulled support nor trashed the initiative.
So too, the report reveals that the majority of Kenyans, 69 per cent, feel that the opposition should cooperate with the government moving forward.
This is contrary to the traditional role of the opposition; to keep the government in check.
This is an arrangement similar to what was achieved by the handshake and during the coalition government by former President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
Edited by R.Wamochie