Has Kenya really gotten to this level or is it just another of the politically motivated statistics…??
Cord backers hit hardest by poverty, new study shows
A majority of Cord supporters are low-income earners and can hardly afford
a meal, a survey on Kenya’s household economic conditions shows.
Results of the survey conducted by research firm Ipsos show that 48 percent of Cord supporters, compared to 39 per cent of Jubilee supporters, earn less than Sh10,000.
The trend is reflected in other income brackets, with the survey showing Cord supporters still earning much less compared to their Jubilee
counterparts. The Ipsos study, which is part of its 2nd quartern National SPEC survey undertaken
at the beginning of August, indicate that a majority of Kenyans (42per cent) earn between Sh1,000 and Sh10,000 per month while four percent have no income at all.
The second majority of 30 per cent earn between Sh10,000 and Sh25,000 while just about 15 per cent earn over Sh25,000. A further analysis of the results by region places Western, Nyanza, Eastern and Rift Valley at the top of the low-income bracket at 65, 59, 51 and 50 per cent, respectively.
The findings also indicate that most respondents from Western, Nyanza, North Eastern and Rift Valley were ‘hungrier’, in that they either went to bed hungry or did not have enough to eat.
A majority are supporters of Cord, according to the research. The researchers asked a specific question: “Does anyone in your household ever go to sleep hungry?/Does everyone in your household always get enough to eat?”
The same questions were surveyed across the major political coalitions and results indicate that most of those affected were Cord supporters.
The results indicate that 66 per cent of families of Cord supporters hardly have enough to eat and 44 per cent go to bed hungry, compared to 44 per cent and24 per cent of Jubilee-affiliated families.
The general response across the surveyed regions found that 52 per cent of families do not have enough to eat while 32 per cent go to bed hungry sometimes.
Regionally, Nyanza had 81 per cent going to bed hungry, Western 70 per centand North Eastern 65 percent. On the first question, Nyanza and Western led at 52 per cent.
Western, Nyanza and Coast regions also felt that the economic conditions in the country have worsened in the last three months. The percentages were 57 for Western and Nyanza and 56 for Coast.
A majority of the respondents who feel this way are also affiliated to the Cord at 56 per cent. It is only in
Central that the respondents reported improved economic conditions.
Although the survey found that 64 per cent of Kenyans own houses, the results indicate that home ownership is mostly in rural areas at 81 per cent, while a majority of urban residents (64 per cent) live in rental houses. The researchers interviewed 2,002 respondents aged 18 years and above livingin urban and rural areas
in 41 counties.
<9th Daily Nation pg 2>