Drama as Ipsos press conference ENDS abruptly (here is what happened)

There was drama towards the end of a poll that has just been released by Ipos after journalists pressed leader researcher Tom Wolf on the one question that keeps repeating on the polls – “Raila Odinga political future”.

A number of journalists who seemed not to have got the ‘envelop of silence’ quickly seized the small window during the question and and answer session to expose Tom Wolf, the lead Ipsos researcher, as a fraud.

It all started with a journalist from XNews (a free Nairobi publication released every evening) asking Wolf to explain the assumptions on his polling question on Mr. Odinga. The journalists then asked why Wolf had not asked the same questions (should Raila Odinga retire) on other candidates.

“If you were to ask Kenyans: Should  Uhuru retire and not contest 2017 polls, would there be no response?”

The point of the journalist was that by continuously asking Kenyans whether Raila should retire, in isolation of other candidates; and basing that question on no political imperatives, the pollster was bordering on ‘pollaganda’, that is, using polls for propaganda.

On Raila question, Wolf claimed the question was funded by the Star Newspaper so if other organizations want a poll on Uhuru, or other candidates, they should pay. He never responded to the journalist. He never provided the premise for the question save for claiming it had been paid for. He even went further to claim Raila has been asked to retire by even CORD leaders yet he has never heard anyone ask Uhuru to retire.

At this point; another journalist asked him what streets he walks to not have heard Uhuru being told to go home!

He did not respond.

A journalist from K24 asked him why, with all corruption allegations, he his polls still put Uhuru as better at fighting corruption than Raila, and other presidential aspirants.

He did not answer.

Another journalist asked him why, despite Public Service Commission (PSC) revealing that public and government appointments under Uhuru disproportionately favoured two tribes more than others, yet he still reported that more Kenyans think Uhuru is best suited to combat ethnic isolation (negative ethnicity), he responded that the respondents may not have seen the PSC report!

At this point; one journalist asked whether his polls are scientific, thus verifiable, or voodoo. There was giggles in the room; Tom Wolf pretended not to have heard the question.

At this point; another staffer came to the podium and took over, and stopped further questions.

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