Senators are now demanding the government to come clean on the criteria used in creating more than 1,100 new administrative units in the country.
The development follows gazettement of some 1,104 administrative units in 31 out of 47 counties in February last year by the then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, now Deputy President.
Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda said the Ministry of Interior and National Administration should explain the criteria they use to allocate such administrative units.
The senator wants Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to clarify whether the government receives requests from local leaders, communities or stakeholders before proceeding with the creation of additional administrative units.
Citing the example of Kisumu County, the legislator wanted to know whether the existing administrative units in the Lakeside City are enough as well as their capacity to effectively serve the growing population and their service delivery needs.
He said that the minister should tell us whether the existing administrative units in Kisumu County are sufficient to meet the needs of the people as the City continues to grow.
“The minister should explain the criteria used by the Ministry to determine the adequacy of units and whether Kisumu County meets these thresholds, and are there any plans to establish new units in Kisumu,” said Senator Ojienda.
Nominated Senator Beatrice Ogola raised concerns about how a vast Ndhiwa sub-County in Homa Bay County, which is larger than some counties in the country, only has two divisions.
She pointed out that the area’s population has grown exponentially and the people are crying out for more administrative units.
The senator said the proposal is to have three sub-counties carved out of Ndhiwa in an effort to get services closer to the people.
She argued that the establishment of well-structured administrative units is vital for efficient governance, security and equitable resource distribution.
“These administrative units provide structures that bring these services closer to the people. Devolution wanted services to come from Nairobi up to the county headquarters. Those services must, however, not be limited to the county headquarters,” said Ms Ogola.
“They must go down past the sub-county headquarters, up to the wards, and even up to the villages. This will ensure efficiency, availability and equity of services to our people,” she said.
The government created 24 sub-counties with 16 sub-counties in the opposition strongholds including Tarasaa in Tana River, Tiriki East in Vihiga county, Narok Amalo and Narok West in Narok county, Kambu, Murera, Kerio Valley, Kabras East, and Kabras West in Kakamega county, and Usigu in Siaya county.
Additionally, Suba Central, Suba West, Suba South, and Rachuonyo West in Homa Bay county, Dagoretti North, and Dagoretti South in Nairobi county have been designated as new administrative units.
Each newly established sub-county is set to have its own administrative headquarters, aimed at decentralising services and improving accessibility for residents.
The sub-counties were joined by 88 divisions, 318 locations and 674 sub-locations and the new units were to be operational by the end of 2024.
Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei said the government should not just stop at creating the new units but go further to ensure they are operational.
“We should address the issue of operationalisation of several administrative units that have been gazetted across the country. I know for a fact that in my county, we have over 100 administrative units that have been gazetted, but have not been operationalised,” he said.
Prof Kindiki had said that the creation of new divisions is set to streamline 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.
The government in June 2022 had frozen the creation of new administrative units until after the August 2022 General Election with the then-Interior CS Fred Matiang’i expressing concerns over what he termed as the politicisation of boundary issues.
Two months ago, MPs expressed concern that the various units have remained largely unused, questioning why they were set up in the first place.
National Assembly on Administration and Internal Security committee chairperson Gabriel Tongoyo blamed budgetary constraints for the non-operation of the new units, saying at least Sh500 million is needed to operationalise the units but the ministry has only received Sh284 million.
Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen said there is a need for a policy on creation of administrative units to avoid situations of non-operationalisation due to lack of budget.
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