Kalonzo, Uhuru favourite running mates

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 24 - Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta are now regarded as the most favourable pair to win an election as President and Deputy President.

According to a poll conducted by Synovate last week, a combination of the two leaders scores an average 42 percent approval.

"For those who would vote for Kalonzo Musyoka as President, Uhuru Kenyatta is the most preferred running mate (45 percent) followed by William Ruto (16 percent) and Raila Odinga (11 percent)," said Synovate Managing Director George Waititu in a statement.

On the other hand, if Mr Kenyatta was the presidential candidate, 39 percent favour Mr Musyoka as the running mate, followed by Mr Ruto (19percent) and Mr Odinga (11percent).

When asked which individual they would vote for as president, majority settled on Mr Odinga (47pc). He is surprisingly followed by Mwai Kibaki at 12 percent even though he is not eligible for re-election. Mr Kenyatta takes third position at 10 percent, Mr Musyoka follows with 8 percent slightly ahead of Mr Ruto (6 percent) and Martha Karua (5 percent).

The poll sought information on the most preferred running mate for Mr Odinga, Mr Musyoka, Mr Kenyata, Mr Ruto, and Ms Karua respectively.

“For those who would want Raila Odinga as a presidential candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta (29 percent), Musalia Mudavadi (22 percent) and Kalonzo Musyoka (18 percent) are the most preferred running mates," said Mr Waititu.

"Interestingly William Ruto and Martha Karua also feature as suggested Raila Odinga's running mates with 8 percent and 5 percent respectively."

The new Constitution requires a presidential aspirant to name a running mate who will be the Deputy President if he/ she won the elections.

It also requires the winning presidential candidate to garner more than half of all the votes cast, and at least 25 percent of the votes cast in 24 of 47 counties. With these requirements strategies and alliances are bound to spring up in the run up to the elections.

"For Martha Karua's followers, Kalonzo Musyoka is the most preferred running mate by at least 27 percent almost at par with Uhuru 26 percent," added the statement.

Mr Kenyatta remains a preferred deputy President amongst Mr Ruto's supporters.

"Uhuru Kenyatta (42 percent) and Kalonzo Musyoka (30 percent) are the most preferred running mates by William Ruto's loyals," said Mr Waititu.

In August an Infotrack opinion poll placed an Odinga-Kenyatta alliance as the most preferred. Although he was the favourite running mate for all presidential aspirants, Mr Kenyatta's alliance with the PM was the most popular.

With 43 percent endorsing Mr Kenyatta as Mr Odinga's running mate - designating him deputy president - the alliance appeared the most potent, according to the survey at the time.

This month's poll interviewed 1,501 adult Kenyans between September 16 and 20 using Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews. The margin of error attributed to this survey was +/-3 at 95 percent confidence level.