Counties of Kenya


The counties of Kenya are geographical units envisioned by the 2010 Constitution of Kenya as the units of devolved government. The powers are provided in Articles 191 and 192, and in the fourth schedule of the Constitution of Kenya and the County Governments Act of 2012. The counties are also single member constituencies for the election of members of parliament to the Senate of Kenya and special women members of parliament to the National Assembly of Kenya. As of 2013 general elections, there are 47 counties whose size and boundaries are based on the 47 legally recognised Districts of Kenya. Following the re-organisation of Kenya's national administration, counties were integrated into a new national administration with the national government posting county commissioners to represent it at the counties.

Establishment

County governments were established in 47 counties, after the scheduled general elections in March 2013. The counties' names are set out in the First Schedule of the Constitution of Kenya.

List of counties

Under the new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 counties for administrative purposes. They are grouped below according to the former province of which they were part, with their areas and populations as of the 2009 census:
CodeCountyFormer ProvinceArea Population
Census 		Population
Census 		Capital
1Mombasa Coast212.5939,3701,208,333Mombasa
2KwaleCoast8,270.3649,931866,820Kwale
3KilifiCoast12,245.91,109,7351,453,787Kilifi
4Tana RiverCoast35,375.8240,075315,943Hola
5LamuCoast6,497.7191,539143,920Lamu
6Taita–TavetaCoast17,083.9284,657340,671Mwatate
7GarissaNorth Eastern45,720.2623,060841,353Garissa
8WajirNorth Eastern55,840.6661,941781,263Wajir
9ManderaNorth Eastern25,797.71,025,756867,457Mandera
10MarsabitEastern66,923.1291,166459,785Marsabit
11IsioloEastern25,336.1143,294268,002Isiolo
12MeruEastern7,003.11,356,3011,545,714Meru
13Tharaka-NithiEastern2,609.5365,330393,177Kathwana
14EmbuEastern2,555.9516,212608,599Embu
15KituiEastern24,385.11,012,7091,136,187Kitui
16MachakosEastern5,952.91,098,5841,421,932Machakos
17MakueniEastern8,008.9884,527987,653Wote
18NyandaruaCentral3,107.7596,268638,289Ol Kalou
19NyeriCentral2,361.0693,558759,164Nyeri
20KirinyagaCentral1,205.4528,054610,411Kerugoya / Kutus
21Murang'aCentral2,325.8942,5811,056,640Murang'a
22KiambuCentral2,449.21,623,2822,417,735Kiambu
23TurkanaRift Valley71,597.8855,399926,976Lodwar
24West PokotRift Valley8,418.2512,690621,241Kapenguria
25SamburuRift Valley20,182.5223,947310,327Maralal
26Trans-NzoiaRift Valley2,469.9818,757990,341Kitale
27Uasin GishuRift Valley2,955.3894,1791,163,186Eldoret
28Elgeyo-MarakwetRift Valley3,049.7369,998454,480Iten
29NandiRift Valley2,884.5752,965885,711Kapsabet
30BaringoRift Valley11,075.3555,561666,763Kabarnet
31LaikipiaRift Valley8,696.1399,227518,560Rumuruti
32NakuruRift Valley7,509.51,603,3252,162,202Nakuru
33NarokRift Valley17,921.2850,9201,157,873Narok
34KajiadoRift Valley21,292.7687,3121,117,840Kajiado
35KerichoRift Valley2,454.5752,396901,777Kericho
36BometRift Valley1,997.9730,129875,689Bomet
37KakamegaWestern3,033.81,660,6511,867,579Kakamega
38VihigaWestern531.3554,622590,013Vihiga
39BungomaWestern2,206.91,375,0631,670,570Bungoma
40BusiaWestern1,628.4743,946893,681Busia
41SiayaNyanza2,496.1842,304993,183Siaya
42KisumuNyanza2,009.5968,9091,155,574Kisumu
43Homa BayNyanza3,154.7963,7941,131,950Homa Bay
44MigoriNyanza2,586.4917,1701,116,436Migori
45KisiiNyanza1,317.91,152,2821,266,860Kisii
46NyamiraNyanza912.5598,252605,576Nyamira
47Nairobi Nairobi 694.93,138,3694,397,073Nairobi
581,309.038,610,99747,564,296Nairobi

County governments

County governments are responsible for county legislation, executive functions, functions outlined in the fourth schedule of the constitution of Kenya, functions transferred from the national government through article 187 of the constitution of Kenya, functions agreed upon with other counties under article 189 of the constitution of Kenya, and establishment and staffing of a public service. The functions of governments assigned to counties by the fourth schedule of the Constitution of Kenya are:

Agriculture

Counties are mandated by the 2010 constitution of Kenya to enact legislation and laws that ensures management and controls of fire fighting.

Control of drugs and pornography

Coordination

The county governor and the deputy county governor are the chief executive and deputy chief executive of the county, respectively.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall not conduct a separate election for the deputy governor but shall declare the running mate of the person who is elected county governor to have been elected as the deputy governor.
Each county will be run by an executive committee, consisting of:
As a speciality in the democratic system Kenyan law requires governors to have a recognised university degree.

County assemblies

The counties will each have an assembly whose members are elected from single member constituencies known as wards. There may also be a number of nominated members as is necessary to ensure that neither male nor female members constitute more than two-thirds of the assembly. There will also be six nominated members to represent marginalised groups and a speaker who will be an ex officio member of the assembly.

County governors

Current list of governors

The governors listed below were elected on 8 August 2017.
County NoNameGovernorDeputy GovernorParty
1Mombasa Ali Hassan JohoDr. William KingiODM
2KwaleSalim MvuryaFatuma Mohamed AchaniJP
3KilifiAmason KingiKenneth Mwakombo KamtoODM
4Tana RiverDhadho Gadae GodhanaJire Siyat MohamedODM
5LamuFahim Yassin TwahaAbdulhakim Aboud BwanaJP
6Taita-TavetaGranton Graham SambojaMajala Mlagui DelinaWDM-K
7GarissaBunow Ali KoraneDagame AbdiJP
8WajirMohamed Abdi MahamudAhmed Muktar AliJP
9ManderaAli Ibrahim RobaMohamed Ahmed AraiJP
10MarsabitMohamud Mohamed AliSolomon Gubo RiweJP
11IsioloMohammed Abdi KutiDr. Ibrahim Abdi IssaIND
12MeruKiraitu MurungiTitus NtuchiuJP
13TharakaOnesmus Muthomi NjukiFrancis Nyamu KagwimaJP
14EmbuMartin WamboraDorothy Nditi MuchunguJP
15KituiCharity NgiluDr. Wathe NzauNARC
16MachakosAlfred MutuaEng. Francis MalitiMaendeleo Chap Chap Party
17MakueniKivutha KibwanaAdelina Ndeto MwauWDM-K
18NyandaruaFrancis KimemiaCecilia Wanjiru MbuthiaJP
19NyeriMutahi KahigaCaroline KaruguJP
20KirinyagaAnne WaiguruPeter NdambiriJP
21Murang'aMwangi wa IriaAugustine J Gakure MonyoJP
22KiambuDr.James NyoroJoyce NgugiJP
23TurkanaJosphat NanokPeter Lotethiro EmuriaODM
24West PokotJohn Krop LonyangapuoDr. Nicholas AtudonyangKANU
25SamburuMoses KasaineJulius LeseetoJP
26Trans-NzoiaPatrick Simonyu KhaembaStanley Kiptoo Kenei TarusFORD-KENYA
27Uasin GishuJackson Kiplagat MandagoDaniel Kiplagat KiprotichJP
28Elgeyo-MarakwetAlex TolgosGabriel Lagat KosgeyJP
29NandiStephen Kipyego SangDr Yulita Jebotip Cheruiyot MiteiJP
30BaringoStanley KiptisJacob Kurui ChepkwonyJP
31LaikipiaNdiritu MuriithiJohn MwanikiIND
32NakuruLee KinyanjuiErick KorirJP
33NarokSamuel ole TunaiAruasa Evalyn ChepkiruiJP
34KajiadoJoseph Ole LenkuMartin MoshishoJP
35KerichoPaul Kiprono ChepkwonySusan Chepkoech KikwaiJP
36BometDr. Hillary BarchokJP
37KakamegaWycliffe OparanyaPhilip Museve KutimaODM
38VihigaWilber OtichiloDr. Patrick Lumumba SaisiODM
39BungomaWycliffe Wafula WangamatiProf. Charles Ngome KibananiFORD-KENYA
40BusiaSospeter OjaamongSolomon Abwaku AkadakeODM
41SiayaCornel RasangaWilson Ouma OnyangoODM
42KisumuPeter Anyang' Nyong'oMathews OwiliODM
43Homa BayCyprian AwitiHamiliton Onyango OrataODM
44MigoriZacharia ObadoNelson Mahanga MwitaODM
45KisiiJames OngwaeArthur Maangi GongeraODM
46NyamiraJohn ObieroAmos Kimwomi NyariboODM
47Nairobi Mbuvi Gideon Kioko "Mike Sonko"JP