National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) follow proceedings during the 42nd Edition of Jukwaa la Usalama at Tom Mboya Labour College, Kisumu, on September 18, 2025.
The government’s plan to bring services closer to wananchi through hundreds of new national administrative units has run into a familiar obstacle: many of the offices that were created to improve security, public administration and access to government services remain little more than names in the Kenya Gazette.
A Nation investigation across several counties has established that, while some of the units gazetted since 2023 are beginning to transform service delivery in previously marginalised areas, many others remain dormant because of delayed recruitment, inadequate funding, insecurity and the absence of physical offices and basic infrastructure.
The findings expose a widening gap between policy and implementation, particularly in remote regions where the new units were expected to strengthen government presence and improve access to essential services.
Members of the public can be seen seeking services at the Chasimba Chief's Office in Chonyi Sub-County, Kilifi County, in this photo taken on July 1, 2026. The new administrative units in the area have yet to be established, months after they were created by the government.
According to the Ministry of Interior’s Jukwaa La Usalama report, the government intended to operationalise all gazetted administrative units during the 2024/25 financial year. That target has slipped.
The report attributes the delays to funding constraints that have slowed recruitment, office construction and deployment of personnel. As matters stand, 15 sub-counties, 379 divisions, 1,366 locations and 2,808 sub-locations remain inactive years after being gazetted.
The delays are most evident in North Eastern, where insecurity, staffing shortages and local political dynamics have combined to frustrate implementation.
Across Wajir, Garissa and Mandera, dozens of gazetted divisions, locations and sub-locations have yet to become operational despite growing demand for government services.
Residents say insecurity has discouraged officers from accepting postings to remote stations, while competition among local communities over administrative positions has complicated recruitment.
Police officers and national government administrators follow proceedings during a Jukwaa La Usalama forum at Gulab Lochab Hall in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County on July 23, 2025
“We have areas with deep clan interests, making it difficult to hire a chief or an assistant chief. The dominant clan wants the position against the wishes of minority communities,” said Mandera resident Hassan Ogle.
A senior government official in Wajir, who requested anonymity because he is not authorised to speak publicly, questioned the planning behind some of the new units, saying several existed only on paper.
In neighbouring Garissa, residents continue travelling long distances to access services such as national identity card and birth certificate registration because some newly created administrative units remain without staff.
The Interior Ministry, however, insists implementation is progressing.
North Eastern Regional Commissioner John Otieno said recruitment of chiefs and assistant chiefs was continuing across the region and that Deputy County Commissioners had already been deployed to all gazetted sub-counties.
The Construction of new offices at the Chasimba Chief's Office in Chonyi Sub- County, Kilifi County, in this photo taken on July 1, 2026. The New Adminstrative Units in the area are yet to be established months after they were created by the government.
Beyond North Eastern, Turkana illustrates both the promise and limitations of the government’s strategy.
The creation of new sub-counties along the borders with South Sudan and Uganda has strengthened government presence in areas long associated with insecurity, cross-border conflict and livestock raids. Local leaders credit new administrative structures, peace committees and closer coordination among security agencies with improving stability in parts of Turkana North.
Residents in Lokiriwak say grazing areas once controlled by armed groups have reopened following peace initiatives coordinated through local security committees. Administrators are also encouraging children to return to school as communities rebuild after years of conflict.
Yet the gains remain uneven.
Elsewhere in Turkana, poor roads, highway banditry and recurring livestock raids continue to undermine service delivery and security operations. Leaders say some administrators have abandoned remote stations because of insecurity, while police units lack vehicles needed for rapid response and livestock recovery.
Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai has warned that insecurity continues to disrupt public services and development projects in parts of the county.
Funding and staffing challenges are also slowing implementation in counties where insecurity is less pronounced.
The new Assistant Chief Offices at Mraru, in Voi Sub-County, Taita Taveta County, in this photo taken on July 2, 2026. The New Adminstrative Units in the area are yet to be established months after they were created by the government.
In Kilifi and Taita Taveta, several administrative units gazetted last year remain at different stages of implementation. Some have completed recruitment interviews but await appointments.
Others have neither offices nor officers, forcing existing administrators to oversee multiple jurisdictions.
Officials acknowledge progress but say implementation depends on the availability of funds for recruitment and construction.
The consequences are already being felt on the ground. Existing chiefs continue serving expanded jurisdictions while residents still travel to older administrative centres for government services that were expected to move closer to their communities.
A similar picture emerges in parts of western Kenya.
In Homa Bay and Kisumu, some newly established sub-counties have received Deputy County Commissioners but remain without the full complement of government departments needed to deliver services. Residents seeking police, registration or children’s services still travel to older administrative headquarters because key offices have yet to relocate.
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen addresses security personnel from Nakuru County during Jukwaa la Usalama forum at Sarova Woodlands Hotel in Nakuru on August 12, 2025.
Officials attribute the delays to phased implementation and limited resources.
“The objective remains to bring government services closer to the people while improving coordination and security, but implementation depends on the availability of resources,” a junior government officer said.
Even so, the investigation found examples where the policy is beginning to achieve its intended purpose.
In Busia County, residents say new administrative units have significantly reduced the distance and cost of accessing government services. The establishment of Changara Division and additional locations has brought registration services closer to communities that previously travelled to distant administrative centres.
Resident Mathew Edejai said obtaining national identity cards and other services had become faster and less expensive after the new offices were established.
Such successes demonstrate the potential benefits of expanding the national administration when recruitment, staffing and infrastructure move together.
Elsewhere, however, communities say infrastructure alone is not enough.
In parts of Kakamega County, residents told the Nation that police facilities established to strengthen security remain unoccupied years after construction, leaving crime and cattle theft largely unchanged despite public investment.
Political leaders and community organisations have also questioned aspects of the creation process.
In Busia, local leaders allege that political interference altered earlier proposals for new administrative boundaries, reducing the number of units ultimately approved.
They argue that some densely populated areas remain underserved despite years of lobbying for additional administrative offices. In Samburu, implementation has stalled almost entirely. More than six months after President William Ruto announced new sub-counties in the county, little progress has been made.
Local leaders cite inadequate funding, leaving vast areas without the administrative presence needed to coordinate security operations and emergency response.
Bomet presents a similar picture.
While some new divisions have received administrators, others remain vacant despite the creation of the new units. Local leaders say the expansion remains necessary because existing administrative boundaries are too large to serve growing populations effectively.
The investigation suggests that the government’s ambitious expansion of administrative units is encountering the same structural constraints that have affected previous decentralisation initiatives: creating new offices is considerably easier than funding, staffing and equipping them.
For residents, the consequences are immediate. Delayed deployment means longer journeys for essential services, slower emergency response, overstretched administrators and missed opportunities to strengthen security in some of the country’s most vulnerable regions.
Government officials maintain that implementation remains on course and that additional funding has been sought to accelerate recruitment and operationalise the remaining units.
Until that happens, however, many of the administrative offices created to symbolise a stronger state presence will continue to exist only in official records, leaving communities waiting for the services they were promised.
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Reporting by Sammy Lutta, Manase Otsialo, Brian Ocharo, Rushdie Oudia, George Odiwuor, Dominic Ombok, Vitalis Kimutai and Eric Matara.
