Kenya - Administrative Regions

Administrative Regions

Kenya is divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties that will be headed by governors who will be elected in the first general election under the new constitution in March 2013. Under the old constitution, Kenya comprised eight provinces each headed by a Provincial Commissioner (centrally appointed by the president). The provinces (mkoa singular mikoa plural in Swahili) were subdivided into districts (wilaya). There were 69 districts as of 1999 census. Districts are then subdivided into 497 divisions (taarafa). The divisions are then subdivided into 2,427 locations (mtaa) and then 6,612 sublocations (mtaa mdogo). The City of Nairobi enjoys the status of a full administrative province. The government supervises administration of districts and provinces. The provinces are:

1. Central
2. Coast
3. Eastern
4. Nairobi
5. North Eastern
6. Nyanza
7. Rift Valley
8. Western

Under the current Kenya constitution, local government authorities are not recognized. However, under the old constitution, local governance in Kenya was practised through local authorities. Many urban centres host city, municipal or town councils. Local authorities in rural areas are known as county councils. Local councillors are elected by civic elections, which are held alongside general elections.

Constituencies are an electoral subdivision. An Interim Boundaries commission was formed in year 2010 to review the constituencies and in its report, it recommended creation of additional 80 constituencies. Currently, there are 210 Constituencies in Kenya.