Washington, DC – IRI today released a letter from Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to Institute President Lorne Craner regarding IRI’s work in Kenya. The letter is being released in response to articles that appeared in The Nation (Meddling in Kenya’s Elections) and The Standard (Raila snubs US team over 2007 election and US role in ‘07 election questioned).
Over the past year, IRI has acted in a transparent and independent manner, issuing three statements detailing its concerns in regard to a December 27, 2007, IRI exit poll conducted in Kenya. IRI also repeated our policy on those three occasions – that the Institute does not release polls we believe are flawed; IRI only releases polls when there is confidence in the integrity and standards of the data.
The concerns IRI had about the poll were well founded as the initial results were flawed and incorrect. The audited and re-entered data showed different results for both candidates and a six-point win for Odinga, a difference from the initial raw data that was outside the poll’s 1.3 percent margin of error. Any accusation that IRI withheld the results at the behest of the U.S. Embassy is a fabrication.
Letter from Prime Minister Odinga:
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