A majority of Kenyans think MPs have performed well since being elected into office in August last year, with more than half of the lawmakers receiving an approval rating of more than 50 per cent, a new poll has shown.
According to the survey by Infotrak Research and Consulting, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro is the best performing MP in the country with a performance rating of 70 per cent.
The two-term MP is closely followed by Kangema’s Peter Kihungi who has a rating of 68 per cent in a top 10 list dominated by legislators from Central region.
Igembe South MP John Mwirigi, his Mwingi Central counterpart Gideon Mulyungi, Khwisero’s Christopher Aseka, Kathiani’s Robert Mbui and Homa Bay Town’s Peter Kaluma are tied in third position with approval ratings of 66 per cent.
Mr Benson Makali (Kitui Central), Tetu’s Geoffrey Wandeto and Mr James Wamacukuru of Kabete round off the list of the 10 best performing MPs.
In what could be seen as a resounding approval for the lawmaker, all the seven regions, except for North Eastern, have an average approval rating of more than 50 per cent, with four regions above the national average of 54 per cent.
The average performance approval of MPs is only second to that of governors, who received an average performance rating of 57 per cent but is better than that of MCAs (50 per cent), senators (46 per cent) and 42 per cent for woman representatives.
The CountyTrak Performance Index was conducted between July and September 2023 across the 290 constituencies with an overall sample of 58,748.
A National Assembly sitting in Nairobi. A majority of Kenyans think MPs have performed well since they were elected into office last August.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
Each constituency was treated as an individual universe and assigned a cluster sample of at least 200 respondents guided by the population.
Mr Nyoro also topped in the top 10 performing young MPs followed by Mr Mwirigi and Mr Aseka with Mumias East MP Peter Salasya coming fourth with a rating of 64 per cent. Molo MP Kimani Kuria, his Samburu West counterpart Naisula Lesuuda and Mogotio’s Reuben Kiborek closed the top five with performance ratings of 63 per cent.
They were followed by Mr John Kaguchia (Mukurweini) with an approval rating of 61 per cent, Embakasi East’s Babu Owino at 60 per cent and Keiyo South’s Gideon Kimaiyo with 59 per cent.
In terms of the most improved constituencies, Kangema moved 287 positions from 289 in 2020 to position two in 2023.
Mr Kuria’s Molo was next after jumping 274 places, followed by Othaya (254), Suba North (233 positions) same as Sotik and Kitutu Masaba.
Dr Lillian Gogo’s Rangwe Constituency moved 221 positions from position 269 in 2020 to 48 currently, folloeed by North Imenti which moved up 215 positions, Keiyo South (211) and Chepalungu (210).
In the category of female MPs, MP Lesuuda tops the list followed by Suba North’s Millie Odhiambo with a 60 per cent rating.
Kipipiri’s Wanjiku Muhia is third with an approval rating of 59 per cent, same with Dr Gogo, Kitui West’s Edith Nyenze, and Ms Rachael Nyamai of Kitui South.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro addresses residents at Kariara village in Nyeri County on August 7. His 70 per cent performance rating was the highest among MPs.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
The top 10 is rounded off by five MPs — Ms Irene Njoki (Bahati), Dr Eve Obara (Kabondo Kasipul), Ms Martha Wangari (Gilgil), Ms Suzanne Kiamba (Makueni) and Maragwa’s Mary Wamaua with a rating of 57 per cent.
Infotrak boss Angela Ambitho said the appraisal on the performance of the MPs was based on one straightforward question, with the respondents asked how they would rate the overall performance of their MP on a Likert scale of 1-10 where 1 is extremely poor and 10 is excellent, since their election in August 2022.
She said the data for the survey was collected through computer assisted telephone interviews and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) with a margin of error of between +/-1.6 and +/-3.7.
Ms Ambitho said the rationale for getting ordinary citizens to appraise their elected leaders was guided by the principle of political accountability as espoused in Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution.
“The performance rating provided by the respondents is as such based on how they perceive, conceptualise and interpret the role of the elected leaders. The aggregated scores for each elected leader were therefore based solely on the question asked above. No other parameters were used,” said Ms Ambitho.
The survey also showed that the performance rating of MPs has been dropping since 2015 where the top performers were from Emuhaya, Sirisia and Teso South with an approval of 80 per cent, with the top five rounded off by Kikuyu and Rarieda with an approval rating of 79 per cent.
In 2020, the performance rating dropped to 75 per cent, with Emuhaya still leading, Emurua Dikirr and Mwala coming second with 71 per cent and Khwisero and Kibwezi West closing the top five with a rating of 70 per cent.
“The average performance in 2015 for all MPs was 60 per cent but that dropped to 52 per cent in 2020 before marginally rising to 54 per cent in 2023,” said Ms Ambitho.
In terms of regions, MPs from Eastern and Central regions had the best approval from residents standing at 56 per cent.
The two regions are followed by Nyanza and Western with a rating of 55 per cent, followed by Rift Valley (54 per cent), Coast (53 per cent), Nairobi (51 per cent) and North Eastern 49 per cent.
Mr Nyoro, Mr Kihungi, Mr Wandeto, Mr Wamacukuru and Othaya’s Michael Wambugu with a rating of 62 per cent completing the top five.
In Eastern, Mr Mwirigi, Mr Mulyungi, and Mr Mbui are top with 66 percent followed by Mr Makali of Kitui Central (65 per cent) with three MPs rounding off the top five — Chuka/Igambang’ombe’s Patrick Munene, Mwala’s Vincent Musyoka and Kibwezi West’s Mwengi Mutuse with approval ratings of 63 per cent.
Chepalungu MP Victor Koech, Ms Lesuuda, Mr Kuria and Mogotio’s Reuben Kipknor top with a rating of 63 per cent, with Sigor’s Peter Lochakapong closing the top five with a rating of 62 per cent.
In Nairobi, Mr Owino is top followed by Westlands’ Tim Wanyonyi (58 per cent), Embakasi Central’s Benjamin Gathiru (56 per cent), Embakasi North’s James Gakuya (55 per cent) with Mr Tom Kajwang’ of Ruaraka and Dagoretti South’s John Kiarie next with 54 per cent.
Changamwe MP Omar Mwinyi leads in Coast with a rating of 64 per cent, folowed by Wundanyi’s Danson Mwakuwona (63 per cent), Nyali’s Mohamed Ali (58 per cent) with Taveta MP John Bwire and Lungalunga’s Chiforomodo Mangale having a rating of 56 per cent.
In North Eastern, Mandera East’s Hussein Abdirahman tops with 55 per cent followed by Mr Mohamed Adow of Wajir South and Ijara’s Abdi Ali with a rating of 53 per cent and Mohamed Abdi of Lafey and Mandera West’s Adan Yussuf with an approval of 51 per cent.
Mr Kaluma leads in Nyanza region followed by Mr Charles Were of Kasipul with a rating of 64 per cent, and Uriri’s Mark Nyamita (61 per cent). Next are Mr Clive Ombane (Kitutu Masaba), Dr James Nyikal (Seme), MP Millie and Ugunja’s Opiyo Wandayi all tied with a performance rating of 60 per cent.
In Western, Mr Aseka and Mr Salaysa lead their counterparts who include Mr Oku Kaunya (Teso North) and Mr Majimbo Kalasinga (Kabuchai) with an approval rating of 63 percent. Emuhaya’s Omboko Milemba closes the top five with a rating of 62 per cent.
Ms Ambitho said the respondents were able to identify their MPs without prompting but said legislative prowess during debates made some MPs accrue visibility despite the performance rating being an intersection of many factors including political affiliation.
“However, it is difficult to gauge the performance using just media coverage or visibility without having tangible performance on the ground,” she said.
The survey was conducted between July and September 2023 across the 290 constituencies with an overall sample of 58,748.
Each constituency was treated as an individual universe and assigned a cluster sample of at least 200 respondents guided by the population.
Ms Ambitho said the appraisal on the performance of the MPs was based on one straightforward question with the respondents asked how they would rate the overall performance of their MP on a Likert scale of 1-10 where 1 is extremely poor and 10 is excellent, since their election in August 2022.
She said the data for the survey was collected through computer assisted telephone interviews and analysed using SPSS with a margin of error of between +/-1.6 and +/-3.7.
