Trends and Insights For Africa (TIFA) has released a survey on public opinion data assessing the performance of President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza cabinet.
TIFA surveyed at least 3,009 respondents, representing Kenya’s adult population, between November 25 and December 7.
The survey evaluated the performance of both the cabinet and the cabinet secretaries.
TIFA indicated that the ratings were determined by factors such as awareness, trust, visibility, commitment, issue resolution, and transparency.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki emerged as the best-performing cabinet secretary, securing a 65 percent approval rating.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi secured second position with a score of 62 percent, followed by Ezekiel Machogu, Minister of Education, who obtained a 58 percent score.
Health CS Susan Nakhumicha and her Transport counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen shared the fourth position with a 57 percent approval rating.
In contrast, the survey revealed that Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir is the lowest-rated minister, receiving a 19% approval rating. Other ministers with poor performance include Gender CS Aisha Jumwa (23%) and Treasury counterpart Njuguna Ndungu (24%).
Lands and Housing CS Alice Wahome and her Water and Sanitation counterpart, Zachariah Njeru, both secured a 24 percent approval rating.
Meanwhile, the research revealed that many Kenyans perceive the escalating cost of living as a significant challenge for the Kenya Kwanza government.
Four in 10 Kenyans identified the rising cost of living as the most crucial challenge facing President Ruto’s administration.
TIFA also discovered that nine out of 10 Kenyans have cut their spending due to the cost of living.
As a result of the soaring cost of living, Kenyans have reduced spending on transportation by 15 percent, clothing by nine percent, and entertainment by eight percent.
Further, a significant majority of Kenyans, 84 percent, believe that their current economic situation is worse than it was a year ago.
This sentiment holds true across political affiliations, although nearly four times as many Kenyans supporting the Kenya Kwanza government claim they are better off, constituting 11 percent, compared to those supporting the opposition, standing at three percent.
Regarding geographic distribution, TIFA reported that the highest proportion of those who believe they are worse off now reside in the Lower East, Nairobi, and Nyanza regions, comprising 88 percent.
“While the results presented are accurate (within the stated margins of error), it is important to note that a significant number of major events have occurred during the data collection period and since (prior to this release) that could have affected respondents’ views had they occurred earlier and had respondents been aware of them,” Tifa said.
