Garissa County

Garissa County is a county in Kenya located in Eastern Kenya bordering Somalia to the East, Wajir County and Isiolo County to the North, Tana River County to the West, Lamu County to the South and the Indian Ocean. 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 . The majority of the population in Garissa County is of Somali ethnic background. This includes subgroups like the Ogaden, Degodia, Ajuran, and others. There are also smaller populations of other ethnic groups.

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. Nathif is currently deputised by Abdi Dagane Muhumed.

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

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:

Name Department Mohamud Hassan Mursal County Secretary Hassan Abdirizak Agriculture, Livestock & Pastoral Economy Osman Noor 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. The below is the list of all Constituencies and the current elected Member of Parliament (MP) for each constituency:

Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Garissa 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. The current speaker of the County Assembly is Abdi Idle Gure.

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

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 AhmedBalambala Constituency Balambala Abdi Ibrahim Daar Danyere Idris Ismail Aden Jarajara Adan Hussein Durow Saka Abdiweli Aden Abdullahi Sankuri Abdirahman Mohamed AliLagdera Constituency Modogashe Mahat Abdikadir Ibrahim Benane Abdiqayum Sugow Nurow Goreale Fakrudin Haji Sadik Maalimin Hajir Mahat Farah Sabena Issa Aden Abdi Baraki Hassan Dahir NoorDadaab 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 DahiyeFafi Constituency Bura Ali Abdihakim Haret Dekaharia Ahmed Noor Aden Jarajila Noor Sheikh Farah Fafi Hassan Aden Kolosho Nanighi Abdullahi Ibrahim SigatIjara Constituency Hulugho Adow Omar Said Sangailu Abdi Muhyadin Abdi Ijara Abdirahman Muktar Muhumed Masalani Yunis Abdi Ibrahim

Demographics Garissa county had a total population of 841,353 persons of which 458,975 were males, 382,344 females and 34 intersex person. There was 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 based on the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census.

Distribution of Population, Land Area and Population Density by Sub-County Sub CountyArea (km2)Population2019 Census2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, Volume 2.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 8.3Totals44,753841,35318.8 Source

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

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. +School and Tertiary InstitutionsCategoryNo of Public No of PrivateTotalECD210137347Primary School17351224Secondary School251641Youth Polytechnic 202Teachers Training Colleges202Technical Institutions 101Universities 123Source

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. +Most Prevalent DiseasesDiseasesPercentageUpper Respiratory Tract Infections30.9Urinary Tract Infection15.2Diarrhoeal diseases9.5Diseases of the skin7.4Pneumonia6.7

Source

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

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.

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

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.

Services and urbanisation Source: USAid Kenya

Garissa County

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