Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga widened his lead over President Mwai Kibaki in a batch of opinion polls published on Friday three weeks before an election shaping up to be the east African nation's closest ever.
The nation's leading pollster, Steadman group, gave Odinga 46 percent to Kibaki's 42 percent, compared to a tiny 0.3 percentage points lead the previous week. Another three surveys gave Odinga 43 percent against Kibaki's 39, two of them showing an increased lead over their last surveys at the end of November.
With Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) spending heavily on its campaign, and Kenyan politics apt to shift quickly, analysts said, however, the vote could be won by either man. "This is not the time for any campaign to go to sleep. Three weeks is a lot of time in an election," said Steadman analyst Tom Wolfe. "The undecided voters could swing the election."
Measured and non-confrontational in his public persona, Kibaki, 76, contrasts in style with the more voluble Odinga. But on major policy substance, the pair differ little, both promising to increase Kenya's impressive recent economic growth, create jobs, tackle poverty, and provide free secondary education.
Campaigning ahead of the December 27 presidential and parliamentary ballots have been marred by violence at rallies, including stone-throwing between rival supporters. Several people have died in melees around rallies. There have also been allegations of fraud including vote-buying and inflated registration lists.