Garissa County

County in Kenya
Flag of Garissa County
Flag
Coat of arms of Garissa County
Coat of arms
Location in Kenya
Location in Kenya
Coordinates: 0°27′25″S 39°39′30″E / 0.45694°S 39.65833°E / -0.45694; 39.65833Country KenyaFormed4 March 2013CapitalGarissaGovernment
 • GovernorNathif Jama Adam • Deputy GovernorAbdi Dagane Muhumed • SenatorAbdul Mohammed Haji • County woman representativeAmina Udgoon SiyadArea
 • Total44,753 km2 (17,279 sq mi)Elevation
1,138 m (3,734 ft)Population
 (2019)
 • Total1,513,530 • Density34/km2 (88/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+3 (EAT)Websitewww.garissa.go.ke

Garissa County is an administrative county in Kenya. It is located in Eastern Kenya bordering Somalia to the East, Wajir County and Isiolo County to the North, Tana River County to the West and Lamu County to the South. Its capital and largest urban area is Garissa.

The county was created by the 2010 Constitution of Kenya as a new unit of the devolved government. Prior to the 2010 constitution, Garissa County was part of the North Eastern Province which was one of the former provinces of Kenya. The North Eastern Province was carved out of the then Northern Frontier District (NFD) prior to independence.

The county had a population of 841,353 at the 2019 Census, and a land area of about 44,753 km2 (17,279 sq mi).[1] The district is primarily inhabited by the Absame, Marehan, and Facaye Sade clans. After the Shifta War primarily fought by the Marehan who were given the title Shifta, the tribe were forced to either migrate to Jubaland or claim neighboring clans and thus a huge contingent can now be found in the Absame living as far as the west of the county.

Administrative and political units

Political leadership

Nathif Jama Adam was elected as the pioneer governor of Garissa in March 2013. Ali Bunow Korane became the second governor in 2017 however Nathif was re-elected in 2022.[2][3] Nathif is currently deputised by Abdi Dagane Muhumed.[4]

The current elected Senator of the county is Sen. Abdul Mohammed Haji[5] while the current County woman representative is Hon. Amina Udgoon Siyad.[6]

County Executive Committee (CEC)

Every County Government in Kenya has a County Executive Committee (CEC) who are persons the Governor appoints, with the approval of the assembly. The CEC implements and coordinates the development projects of the County. The committee also implements the laws the County Assembly passes and ensures compliance from the various county departments. Below is a list of the current CECs of Garissa County:[7]

Name Department
Mohamud Hassan Mursal County Secretary
Hassan Abdirizak Agriculture, Livestock & Pastoral Economy
Abass Ismail Finance and Economic Planning
Ahmed Mohamed Water, Environment, Climate Change & Natural Resources
Zahra Musa County Affairs, Public Service & Intergovernmental Relations
Ebla Minhaj Education, Information & ICT
Ahmednadhir Omar Health & Sanitation
Hawa Abdi Culture, Gender, Youth & Sports
Mohamed Suleiman Trade, Investments & Enterprise Development
Nasir Mohamed Roads, Transport & Public Works
Mohamed Hussein Lands, Physical Planning & Urban Development
Khadija Mohamed County Attorney

Administrative units

Garissa County has 6 constituencies.[8][9] The below is the list of all Constituencies and the current elected Member of Parliament (MP) for each constituency.[10]:

Constituency Member of Parliament (MP)
Garissa Township Hon. Mohamed Dekow Barrow
Fafi Hon. Salah Yakub Farah
Dadaab Hon. Farah Maalim
Lagdera Hon. Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed
Balambala Hon. Abdi Omar Shurie
Ijara Hon. Abdi Ali Abdi

Electoral Wards

Garissa County is further subdivided into 30 electoral wards. Each ward is represented by a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) or also known as Ward Representative whose main roles are legislation, representation, and oversight.[11][12] The current speaker of the County Assembly is Abdi Idle Gure.[13]

The list below shows all the wards of the county and the current elected MCA for each Ward:[14]

Constituency Electoral Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA)
Garissa Township Constituency Waberi Abubakar Haji Sugow
Galbet Abubakar Mohamed Khalif
Township Hussein Mohamed Dagane
Iftin Musdaf Abdirashid Ahmed
Balambala Constituency Balambala Abdi Ibrahim Daar
Danyere Idris Ismail Aden
Jarajara Adan Hussein Durow
Saka Abdiweli Aden Abdullahi
Sankuri Abdirahman Mohamed Ali
Lagdera Constituency Modogashe Mahat Abdikadir Ibrahim
Benane Abdiqayum Sugow Nurow
Goreale Fakrudin Haji Sadik
Maalimin Hajir Mahat Farah
Sabena Issa Aden Abdi
Baraki Hassan Dahir Noor
Dadaab Constituency Dertu Aden Hassan Odowa
Dadaab Mohamed Abdi Farah (Aboo)
Labasigale Mohamed Sheikh Abdisalat
Damajale Omar Abdi Hassan
Liboi Ahmed Abdirahman Shiekh
Abakaile Hajir Mohamed Dahiye
Fafi Constituency Bura Ali Abdihakim Haret
Dekaharia Ahmed Noor Aden
Jarajila Noor Sheikh Farah
Fafi Hassan Aden Kolosho
Nanighi Abdullahi Ibrahim Sigat
Ijara Constituency Hulugho Adow Omar Said
Sangailu Abdi Muhyadin Abdi
Ijara Abdirahman Muktar Muhumed
Masalani Yunis Abdi Ibrahim

Demographics

Garissa county has a total population of 841,353 persons of which 458,975 are males, 382,344 females and 34 intersex person. There is a total of 141,394 household with an average size of 5.9 persons per house hold. It has a population density of 19 persons per square kilometre.[15]

Distribution of Population, Land Area and Population Density by Sub-County

Sub County Area (km2) Population
2019 Census[1] 		Popn.
density
Balambala 3,684 32,257 8.8
Dadaab 6,415 185,252 28.9
Fafi 15,050 134,030 8.9
Garissa 3,318 163,914 49.4
Hulugho 7,737 133,984 17.3
Ijara 2,453 141,591 57.7
Lagdera 6,096 50,315 8.3
Totals 44,753 841,353 18.8

Source[1]

Religion & Ethnicity

Most of the inhabitants of Garissa County are ethnically Somali and are predominantly Muslim.

Religion in Garissa County[16]

  Christianity (2.2%)
  Islam (97.6%)
  Other religions (including Atheism) (0.2%)

Education

The county has 347 ECD centres, 224 primary schools, 41 secondary schools, 2 teachers training colleges and 2 public universities.

39.7 per cent of the population can read and write and 57.9 cannot read and write. There is an average of 8.2 per cent literacy level and 74 per cent are illiterate.[17]

School and Tertiary Institutions
Category No of Public No of Private Total
ECD 210 137 347
Primary School 173 51 224
Secondary School 25 16 41
Youth Polytechnic 2 0 2
Teachers Training Colleges 2 0 2
Technical Institutions 1 0 1
Universities 1 2 3

Source [18]

Health

There are a total of 111 health facilities distributes across the county, one level 5, 14 other hospitals, 29 health centres and 67 dispensaries.[19]

Most Prevalent Diseases
Diseases Percentage
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections 30.9
Urinary Tract Infection 15.2
Diarrhoeal diseases 9.5
Diseases of the skin 7.4
Pneumonia 6.7

Source[17]

HIV/ADS is at the 1 percentage as compared to the national prevalent rate of 5.6 percentage.[19]

Transport and communication

A total of 2,700.6 km is classified as road network coverage comprising 1,637.84 km under county government and 1,062.76 km under national government. Of the total road network 420 km is covered by gravelled surface, 2,245.1 km earth surface and .5 km of bitumen surface.[17]

There are 6 postal services with 2,600 installed letter boxes, 2,496 rented letter boxes 104 vacant letter boxes.[20]

Trade and commerce

The main crops grown are maize, greengrams, sorghum, rice, cowpeas, bananas, mangoes, pawpaw, water melon, tomatoes, capsicum and onions. Farmers have an average size of 1.5 hectares for small scale and 20 hectares for large scale. cattle (boran), goats (galla), sheep (black headed Persian) and camel (dromedary one humped) are kept as the main livestock for producing key products of meat, milk, hides and skins.[20][19]

Services and urbanisation

Stats for Garissa County
County
Status for the County (Per cent)
Urbanisation
23.5
Literacy
52.4
Attending School (15-18 Yrs)
43.9
Paved Roads
0
Good Roads
54.1
Electricity Access
11.6
Poverty Rate
49.2

Stats for the County

Source: USAid Kenya

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Volume 2.
  2. ^ "Ex-Garissa governor Nathif JAMA recaptures seat".
  3. ^ "Members of the County Executive". Garissa County Government. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Governors & Deputy Governors". cog.go.ke. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Sen. Haji Abdul Mohammed | the Kenyan Parliament Website".
  6. ^ "HON. KUNO, AMINA UDGOON SIYAD | the Kenyan Parliament Website".
  7. ^ "County Executive Committee". Garissa County Government. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  8. ^ IEBC. "The Report of the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC): Delimitation of Constituencies and Recommendations on Local Authority Electoral Units and Administrative Boundaries for Districts and Other Units" (PDF). Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  9. ^ interior_admin. "Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government". interior.go.ke. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Members of National Assembly | the Kenyan Parliament Website".
  11. ^ "Functions and Role of the County Assembly in Kenya". AfroCave. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Role of Members of the County Assembly in Kenya". AfroCave. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Election of Garissa assembly Speaker challenged in court". Nation. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  14. ^ https://garissaassembly.go.ke/ [bare URL]
  15. ^ Munene, Evans (4 November 2019). "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Results". Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  16. ^ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics" (PDF). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  17. ^ a b c Garissa County. "Second Garissa County Integrated Development Plan CIDP 2018-2022". Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Ministry of Education". education.go.ke. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  19. ^ a b c Garissa County (2019). Second Garissa County Integrated Development Plan CIDP 2018-2022. Garissa County Government. p. 28.
  20. ^ a b Garissa County (2015). County Statistical Abstract Garissa County 2015. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. p. 16.

External links

Media related to Garissa County at Wikimedia Commons

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