In months prior to the August 9 polls, various opinion polls put former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, in the lead to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta against his close competitor, Deputy President William Ruto.
Just days before the polls, a poll done by Infotrak indicated that the Azimio la Umoja presidential candidate would win the election in round one by garnering 52 per cent of the votes cast. DP Ruto was projected to get 45 per cent.
Additionally, the poll put Raila ahead in more than 24 counties while Ruto - according to the pollster - was placed top in only 17 counties.
TIFA, on the other hand, projected a Raila presidency with a 53 per cent win. Ruto came in second at 45 per cent.
However, this was not the case as the DP beat Raila in the polls and was declared the president-elect by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Wanyonyi Chebukati.
Notably, only one major poll firm put Ruto ahead of Raila prior to the elections. In two polls done by Intel Research Solutions (IRS), the DP beat Raila.
In a poll released on August 1, IRS projected Ruto’s win at 50.5 per cent. The former premier was placed second at 42.7 per cent.
The dominance of Raila winning in the polls saw Ruto and his allies allege manipulation of the opinion polls in favour of Raila.
At the time, they claimed that the government was manipulating Raila's numbers to influence the voters.
“We will finish these people politically. Now we have defeated them in agenda setting, we have defeated them through our manifesto, and we have defeated them in all other ways.
“All they are left with are opinion polls and they are releasing them every week. This is a plot to reject the outcome of the elections,” Ruto stated then.
