Raila Odinga’s death, Gen Z protests and cost of living dominate 2025 – Poll

The death narrative surrounding former prime minister Raila Odinga emerged as the single most significant event shaping Kenyans’ perception of 2025, according to a new Infotrak poll.

The survey shows that 30 per cent of respondents cited Raila’s death narrative as the defining moment of the year, far outpacing other major national and socio-economic developments.

The issue featured most prominently in Nairobi and Western Kenya, where 40 per cent of respondents mentioned it, followed by Nyanza at 37 per cent.

Central Kenya recorded 33 per cent, Eastern 32 per cent, Coast 26 per cent, Rift Valley 23 per cent, while North Eastern registered the lowest level at 8 per cent.

Gen Z-led protests ranked second nationally at 12 per cent.

Regionally, the protests resonated most at the Coast (17 per cent) and Central Kenya (16 per cent).

Nairobi, Eastern and Rift Valley each recorded 13 per cent, while awareness was lower in North Eastern (8 per cent), Nyanza (7 per cent) and Western (6 per cent).

The rising cost of living followed closely at 11 per cent, reflecting persistent economic pressure on households.

Concern over living costs was most pronounced in North Eastern Kenya at 19 per cent, followed by Rift Valley (15 per cent) and the Coast (13 per cent).

Eastern and Central Kenya each recorded 12 per cent, while Western and Nyanza stood at 6 per cent and Nairobi at 5 per cent.

Other notable trends shaping perceptions of 2025 included politics and governance (7 per cent), abductions and killings (6 per cent), financial hardship (6 per cent), employment issues (5 per cent), and personal and family matters (5 per cent).

Peace and stability accounted for 4 per cent, while business challenges, affordable housing, and agriculture-related interventions such as free fertiliser each stood at 3 per cent.

Crime and insecurity was cited by 2 per cent, deaths of other leaders by 1 per cent, health policy changes under SHA/SHIF by 1 per cent, and taxation concerns by just 0.4 per cent.

The Infotrak poll was conducted on December 19 and 20, 2025, using Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI). A total of 1,000 interviews were completed to represent adult Kenyans aged 18 years and above.

The sampling frame was designed using Population Proportionate to Size (PPS) guided by the 2019 Census.

The survey covered all 47 counties and eight regions, with proportional allocation to ensure national representativeness.

The margin of error was ±3.10 per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level. Where achieved interviews differed slightly from intended demographic proportions, the data was weighted to correct for over- or undersampling.

Data was processed and analysed using SPSS version 27, ensuring a high level of accuracy and reliability.