Nairobi — A new survey by Mizani Africa has projected a win by Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka the Bungoma gubernatorial race with a clear margin.

The poll released on Friday gave Lusaka an approval rating of 57.9 per cent among respondents sampled.

The incumbent Governor Wycliffe Wangamati who is defending the seat is trailing behind with an approval rating of 35 per cent.

Speaker Lusaka served as the County's first Governor from 2013 to 2017 before losing the seat to Governor Wangamati after switching to President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party.

He was first elected on a FORD-Kenya Party ticket.

He severed ways with FORD Kenya party leader and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula.

Wangamati who won the 2017 election vied on the FORD-Kenya ticket. He has since fallen out with Wetangula.

The duo switched parties with Speaker Lusaka returning to FORD-Kenya after mending ties with Senator Wetangula.

Wangamati on the other hand will be vying on a Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) ticket, an outfit associated with Defense Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.

FORD-Kenya Party is a principal partner in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance led by Deputy President William Ruto while the DAP-K party pledges its allegiance to the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition led by Raila Odinga.

Wangamati is reported to be making efforts to fix the broken relationship with Wetangula in a bid to secure his re-election bid but Wetangula appears to have none of it.

In the senatorial race, the Mizani poll has placed Wetangula as the leading candidate and has a commanding lead with an approval rating of 75.3 per cent.

Charles Kibabani Ngome comes in second with a rating of 14.4 per cent followed by Herman Kasili and Jacob Machacha with an approval rating of 9.2 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Wetangula is a co-principal in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.