The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga has maintained the lead in the presidential race against his closest competitor from the Kenya Kwanza Alliance William Ruto by 6 per cent.

This is according to an opinion poll conducted by Ipsos, which rated Raila as the preferred presidential candidate at 47 per cent against Ruto who stands at 41 per cent.

Ipsos conducted the poll in the last week between July 23 to July 26 and between July 27 and July 30 after the presidential debate.

The polls also rated the Roots Party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah at 2.9 per cent, making him third in the race and David Waihiga Mwaure coming in last at 0.2 per cent.

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George Wajackoyah. PHOTO/COURTESY

Samuel Muthoka, the Director of Research at Ipsos said the number of undecided votes has come down to 4 per cent after Raila bagged half of them and should he manage to convince the other half to vote for him then it is obvious he will win in the first round.

However, Muthoka said if Ruto manages to convert the other half of the undecided votes, then there will be a runoff.

"From this research, if Mr Odinga converts half of the undecided voters he will have a first-round win while if Mr Ruto will convert half of the undecided voters, he will force a re-run of the election," Muthoka said.

The Ipsos poll showed Raila’s legacy as a diplomat and a nationalist gives him an edge against his opponents, while hope and plant to benefit Kenyans do it for Ruto.

David Mwaure Waihiga. PHOTO/COURTESY

The poll involving only eligible voters was conducted in 6,105 households spread across all the 47 counties in Kenya.

Ipsos conducted face-to-face interviews with the respondents in the survey which has a marginal error between -1.254 percent and +1.254 percent.