A survey done by TIFA research has revealed that Kenyans prefer Anne Amadi to take over as the next chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
In a survey released on Wednesday, May 7, the former chief registrar of the Judiciary was ranked as the most favourite candidate among Kenyans at 41 per cent.
Notably, Amadi was the most popular candidate among Kenyans from all the regions in Kenya.
Amadi was followed by Charles Nyachae at 23 per cent and Erastus Ethekon at 15 per cent.
Abdulqadir Ramadhan was ranked fourth with 12 per cent of Kenyans who answered the survey, opining that he would be best suited for the job.
Read More
"Among all Kenyans, after being given the names of the four final candidates for the position of IEBC Chair, Anne Amadi emerged as the most popular, with nearly twice as many naming her as the next most popular candidate, Charles Nyachae (41% vs. 23%)," read the report in part.
"Surprisingly, perhaps, her popularity among females is only slightly higher than among males (42% vs. 40%), though Nyachae’s popularity is somewhat higher among males than females (26% vs. 20%)."
Reasons Behind the Preference of Candidates
Most Kenyans who backed Amadi noted that it was time for a woman to lead the electoral body. Others backed her because of her community origins.
"While Ramadhan’s supporters gave him a higher rating for his perceived independence/absence of bias (40%), Nyachae got the highest marks for his experience (56%)," read the report in part.
"For her part, Amadi was the only one of the four who gained the most credit for two criteria: gender preference (for a woman), and her community-regional origins 21% and 7%, respectively). For his part, Ehekon’s backers identified his identity as representing new leadership and thus change slightly higher than anyone else (18%)"
