Photo caption: Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala in a past event. He has trashed a TIFA poll survey that rated Governor Alfred Mutua as the favorite in the Machakos gubernatorial race. (Photo/www.the-star.co.ke)
Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala has trashed a recent poll survey by Trends and Insights for Africa (TIFA) showing that Dr Alfred Mutua will be re-elected governor if elections were to be held today.
Kiala claims that the TIFA poll ratings are fake and cannot be used to rate aspirants interested in the Machakos gubernatorial seat.
The Machakos deputy governor further alleges that the ratings by TIFA do not reflect local’s views and the real situation on the ground.
Speaking to journalists in Machakos Town on Tuesday, Kiala accused pollster companies of allegedly faking and ‘cooking’ up poll ratings for selfish interests.
“We know these people and we also know who they work for, they can’t ‘cook’ up results and claim to be credible,” he said on Tuesday.
Kiala questioned the methodology used by pollsters to conduct polls saying that some are not objective.
The deputy governor added that pollsters are being funded by some people with selfish interests to confuse voters ahead of the August polls.
The Deputy Governor wondered why pollsters wait until few months to the general election for them to start polling adding that voters will not be swayed by fake and manipulative poll ratings.
He asked voters to ignore fake pollsters and make informed decisions in the August polls.
The TIFA poll result released on Monday showed that Governor Mutua enjoys a 75 per cent support and will be re-elected if elections were to be conducted today.
Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU) party leader Wavinya Ndeti was rated second with 18 per cent while Kiala who is also eyeing to unseat Mutua was rated third with 7 per cent.
Peter Mathuki was rated fourth with one percent same as Kathiani MP Robert Mbui.
Former Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo was rated at 0 percent with 8 percent of locals undecided.
On Tuesday, Ndeti rubbished the TIFA poll rating terming it as ‘nonsense’.
Pollsters have been on the spot in the recent days with a section of politicians accusing them of bias ratings.
Some politicians have proposed laws to monitor and regulate pollsters.