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Opinion polls dismissed

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Published on Tuesday, 22 January 2008 07:08
A cabinet minister, whose docket includes statistical research, has rubbished the opinion polls being done. Planning and National Development minister, Mr Henry Obwocha, said the polls were misleading.

He asked the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) to enforce the KNBS 2006 Act, which he noted had been violated with impunity by the pollsters.

"The Act says that to get a clear picture, one should sample many people. By sampling only 2,400, one can’t claim to be fair.

The KNBS should enforce the Act to ensure that people are not fed with wrong information," he said. Speaking at St Peter’s Nyamira Catholic Church during a funds drive, Obwocha said most of the opinion polls conducted by Steadman Group, Strategic Research, Consumer Insight, and Infotrac Harris were wrong and disingenuous.

"They should interview at least 100,000 people to get proper samples and by so doing, they will be fair and reflect the situation on the ground. From now on, the law must be followed," he added.

Recent opinion polls put ODM presidential candidate, Mr Raila Odinga, ahead of President Kibaki and ODM-Kenya presidential candidate, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka. Obwocha urged his former constituents of West Mugirango to support President Kibaki’s re-election bid.