64% of Kenyans do not support Azimio protests - Report

A new survey now shows that at least 64 per cent of Kenyans are against the anti-government protests by the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party.

According to the survey, which was conducted by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) and released on Friday, only 31 per cent of Kenyans support the demonstrations, while a further 4 per cent hold no opinion about them.

The report also showed that even in the Azimio camp itself, just slightly half of their supporters (56 per cent) actually support the demos, while 40 per cent of them do not.

In the ruling Kenya Kwanza camp, on the other hand, 82 per cent of their supporters are predictably against the opposition's protests, even as a paltry 15 per cent expressed support for them.

As regards whether Azimio leader Raila Odinga can actually succeed in ousting President William Ruto through the demos, 72 per cent of Kenyans responded in the negative, with only 16 per cent agreeing.

“Hardly any Kenyans (16%) believe such demonstrations can achieve their ultimate goal of removing the Ruto government, though three times as many Azimio supporters hold this view as do those of Kenya Kwanza (29% vs. 9%),” read the report.

Just about more than half (57 per cent) of Azimio supporters, however, hold the opinion that Mr. Odinga can succeed in  his quest to remove President Ruto from the top seat, while 84 per cent of Kenya Kwanza supporters dismissed the chance of that ever happening.

TIFA however revealed that the survey, their first of 2023, was conducted between March 11-19, just a day before the first Azimio demonstration was held this past Monday March 20.

“As such, the levels of awareness and views captured in this survey may have changed somewhat over the past week, especially given Azimio’s recent announcement that henceforth, such demonstrations would be held twice weekly: on Mondays and Thursdays,” read the report.