Pollsters in Kenya rarely inspire confidence on their impartiality.
Infotrak in particular has on many occasions been branded an Azimio (pro-Raila) operation, and on Tuesday night, they didn’t do much to change that perception.
Following the debate between Martha Karua of Azimio and Rigathi Gachagua of Kenya Kwanza, many polls were conducted on social media, particularly Twitter. Among the entities that conducted their own was Infotrak, which received over 50,000 responses in just a short while.
The poll also included the two other running mate candidates, namely Justina Wamae and Ruth Mucheru.
From the poll, Rigathi got close to 62% of the vote, followed with Martha Karua with just under 30%. Justina Wamae and Ruth Mucheru got 8% and 0.6% respectively.
While in no way scientific, Twitter polls are often used to quantify the immediate reactions of Twitter users.
To be clear, Twitter users make up a very small, unrepresentative sample often in urban areas. Results should be taken with a grain of salt.
However, it was curious that Infotrak, which conducted the poll unprovoked, soon deleted it. No reason has been given for this, but Kenyans on Twitter are speculating that the pollster was not happy with the results.
UDA’s Dennis Itumbi was convinced that they finally had the evidence that the pollster is not impartial.
He tweeted, “@Infotrakltd is an ODM thing! Unfortunately for them hii Ukora yao was brought to @Twitter ! Where they cannot change the FACTS! When they Noticed their ODM – AZIMIO was losing,they did what they do to polling Data, alter & DELETE – but on these STREETS -TUMEWASHIKA Red Handed!”
Here are some other reactions.
Infotrak have deleted this poll with orders from above 😂 pic.twitter.com/QtGlCSM8iV
— Gitonga™ (@_gitonga__) July 19, 2022
Infotrak have deleted their tweet showing Gachagua leading. They have confirmed to Kenyans today that they have been Fake all along. What a time to be alive!!🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/FFeYlyWfht
— @Its_Kiptoo (@its_Kiptoo) July 20, 2022
Infotrak is a scam.. Ama mnajaribu state capture-recapture method after all your scientific methods failed pic.twitter.com/zXxJZRI8Oi
— Eng. Chairman (@duncanocharo) July 20, 2022
Infotrak caught red handed! This is a genuine poll. pic.twitter.com/DiO4LZpi4x
— David XMutai📡 (@David1Mutai) July 19, 2022
Infotrak had their first genuine poll but could not stand the results. Who even should take their opinion polls seriously? Unprofessional this is. pic.twitter.com/JYA6xJaRsL
— Kibiwot Korir ➐🇰🇪🇬🇧 (@KorirBrianKE) July 20, 2022
Believe it or not, Ruto is ahead of Raila .We always say that Infotrak is sponsored to spread propaganda and manipulated polls. They just deleted this poll after realizing Gachagua is ahead of Karua. Real poll will be on 9th August. pic.twitter.com/le2Oa75HJO
— Edmond Ke🇰🇪🇰🇪 (@kipkorir_edmon) July 19, 2022
I was looking forward to the results this morning only to realize it was eaten by a rat. The pollster has proven to be on someone's paycheck. Infotrak Uhuru Kenyatta pic.twitter.com/YpzP4ThZEm
— Festus Mutai (@mutai_fes) July 20, 2022
Kenyans to Infotrak after knowing that they have been releasing fake and cooked opinion polls🥱 pic.twitter.com/gi8y7bFgwf
— Arap Manyei 🇰🇪 (@ItsManyei) July 20, 2022
Infotrak, being one of biased polls company had to delete this. They could not believe their eyes! Next time they are releasing results, just ignore. pic.twitter.com/JWHRKyNAUz
— Makau F. Muli 🇰🇪 (@MakauWaMuli) July 20, 2022
Infotrak should know that they cannot delete the will of the people…
Hii ya infotrak SI ndio "State Capture" ama??#Infotrakpoll pic.twitter.com/KmTs5DyDSO
— S.N. Nyamao 🇰🇪 (@snnyamao) July 20, 2022
Infotrak is a scam, they deleted a poll where Rigathi Gachagua aka the DO was leading Martha Karua by over 60%. These are the people who cause chaos in our country by giving misleading opinion polls! We must reject them!
Ngilu|| state capture|| staged||— Dennis Ondati The Real DO (@ondati_dennis) July 20, 2022
Infotrak are saying they've deleted this tweet because they misspelled " preferred" pic.twitter.com/pynd9P6lR1
— Samuel X (@SamuelXsr) July 19, 2022
😂😂😂 Infotrak have deleted their poll.
They had even pinned it. pic.twitter.com/hudDT8JuHQ
— Vin (@Vinni_wa) July 19, 2022
