UDA Party attempt to compare William Ruto’s popularity to that of his main competitor Raila Odinga turned against the party as the ODM leader emerged victorious in the poll.
In the Twitter poll, the UDA Party asked fans to retweet if they support William Ruto’s presidency and like if they support Raila Odinga’s presidency ahead of the 2022 General Election.
“Who do you think has better plans for Kenya?” the poll asked.
After a while, the Twitter poll results showed that Raila Odinga has massive support than William Ruto, in fact the lead was more than double.
Well, it was quite ironic that the ODM leader got so much support even from UDA social media followers who everyone would automatically think they support a Ruto presidency.
While Willia Ruto is still the Jubilee Party Deputy Leader, he switched his allegiance to UDA and has openly said he will use the party to vie for the presidency in the 2022 General Election.
Raila on the other hand has not openly declared his interest in vying for the top seat but close allies have indicated he will be on the ballot as he takes the fifth attempt to win the presidency.
Raila, who is considered President Uhuru’s preferred successor, is set to officially announce his presidential ambition on December 10, 2021.
The poll, which was started on November 22, showed Raila leading with 1,463 retweets against Ruto’s 497 retweets as of Tuesday, November 23.
The results of the poll come after a survey by TIFA showed that Raila Odinga’s popularity is rising as William Ruto’s is slowly decreasing.
The poll showed that William Ruto enjoys 38 percent popularity among voters while his main opponent Raila Odinga has 23 percent.
This was a decrease because, in June, when the poll agency conducted a similar survey, the Deputy president enjoyed 39 percent support While Raila Odinga had 8 percent.
The ODM leader witnessed an increase from 8 percent in June to 23 percent in November.
The poll results elicited criticism from William Ruto, who accused his opponents of sponsoring the poll.
“We are not fools, we know our game. Of the 290 elected members of parliament, we have 157. Numbers cannot lie and we are sure of forming the next government,” said Ruto.
However, Ruto’s drop in ranking has been blamed on various factors such as;
The collapse of BBI that was his main weapon against Raila Odinga
Issuing of handouts during rallies that have ended up dividing his supporters.
Failure to accommodate small parties from Mt Kenya willing to form a coalition with UDA
Lack of a different campaign manifesto other than the Bottom-up approach that has become outdated.
