Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during a security forum at Sarova Woodlands Hotel in Nakuru on August 12, 2025.
The government has halted the creation of new administrative units as the government grapples with operational challenges.
The freeze comes amid difficulties in staffing, funding, and equipping the 4,441 units that were recently established across the country.
Although the administrative units were intended to bring services closer to the people, they have been unable to function effectively due to logistical and resource constraints.
This comes at a time when the National Treasury is struggling to raise at least Sh2.5 billion to operationalise the newly created 18 sub-counties, 291 divisions, 1,439 locations and 2,693 sub-locations.
Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the non-operation of the new units. The lawmakers have questioned why the units were set up since they remain largely unused.
Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen wants a policy to be put in place before the creation of administrative units to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.
Separately, Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that the government will no longer create new administration units without a budget.
Mr Murkomen admitted that most of the units are gazetted because of political pressure. The CS said that politicians put the government under pressure to gazette the new units even though there is no budgetary provision.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during a security forum at Sarova Woodlands Hotel in Nakuru on August 12, 2025.
The former Elgeyo-Marakwet senator said the new administrative units require offices, supporting infrastructure, vehicles, equipment and deployment of officers.
He said money is needed for this to be done, but when the budget is submitted to Parliament, no cash is allocated.
“Sometimes, out of political pressure, the government gazettes new units. They (politicians) then ask us to send a Deputy County Commissioner (DCC),stating that they will see what to do about the rest. But when you send the DCC, he or she has no vehicle or office,” said Mr Murkomen.
“It is the same leaders who go public when the units don’t function. They ask the government how it can gazette an area, for instance 10 years ago, without operationalising it. They start asking what kind of government has a DCC without a vehicle or an office.”
The minister said the government is stuck with the newly gazetted administration units which are yet to be operationalised because of budgetary constraints.
The CS said that the earliest proper funding can be obtained is during the next financial year.
“Unfortunately, the budgetary allocations are not adequate. We fell short of Sh2.5 billion for the units to function,” he said.
Mr Murkomen also said that although some of the units were established in 2015, up to now they are not functioning.
However, he revealed that the government is working on a policy framework — with input from the Jukwaa La Usalama initiative — to guide the process of establishing administrative units.
“We will ensure that as we work on the policies, one of them will be on how to establish an administrative unit. This is so that it is not just a political wish. By so doing, the president will not under pressure as was the case also with his predecessors,” he said.
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Earlier, Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda had asked the government to give a status update on the new units in his county.
“Are there plans by the national government to construct offices, supporting infrastructure, deploy officers and provide the necessary equipment? If so, the Cabinet Secretary should explain the specific measures in place to fast-track the process,” Prof Ojienda said.
CS Murkomen said his ministry has only received about Sh200 million from the Exchequer in the current financial year to operationalise some of the new administration units.
“We are trying to prioritise a few areas,starting with the places with insecurity,” he said.
In June 2022, the government froze the creation of new administrative units until after the August 2022 General Election. The then Interior CS Fred Matiang’i expressed concern over what he termed as the politicisation of boundary issues.
Former Interior CS, who is now the Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, gazetted 1,104 administrative units in 31 out of 47 counties in February last year.
The DP said that it was aimed at streamlining administrative processes and cater to the growing needs of the population and were arrived at after undergoing the process of scrutiny to see whether they meet the set criteria.
