# 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 800,000 at the 2019 Census, and a land area of about 44,753 km$^2$ (17,279 sq mi). 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 Township | 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 |
| Garissa Township Constituency | Galbet | Abubakar Mohamed Khalif |
| Garissa Township Constituency | Township | Hussein Mohamed Dagane |
| Garissa Township Constituency | Iftin | Musdaf Abdirashid Ahmed |
| Balambala Constituency | Balambala | Abdi Ibrahim Daar |
| Balambala Constituency | Danyere | Idris Ismail Aden |
| Balambala Constituency | Jarajara | Adan Hussein Durow |
| Balambala Constituency | Saka | Abdiweli Aden Abdullahi |
| Balambala Constituency | Sankuri | Abdirahman Mohamed Ali |
| Lagdera Constituency | Modogashe | Mahat Abdikadir Ibrahim |
| Lagdera Constituency | Benane | Abdiqayum Sugow Nurow |
| Lagdera Constituency | Goreale | Fakrudin Haji Sadik |
| Lagdera Constituency | Maalimin | Hajir Mahat Farah |
| Lagdera Constituency | Sabena | Issa Aden Abdi |
| Lagdera Constituency | Baraki | Hassan Dahir Noor |
| Dadaab Constituency | Dertu | Aden Hassan Odowa |
| Dadaab Constituency | Dadaab | Mohamed Abdi Farah (Aboo) |
| Dadaab Constituency | Labasigale | Mohamed Sheikh Abdisalat |
| Dadaab Constituency | Damajale | Omar Abdi Hassan |
| Dadaab Constituency | Liboi | Ahmed Abdirahman Shiekh |
| Dadaab Constituency | Abakaile | Hajir Mohamed Dahiye |
| Fafi Constituency | Bura | Ali Abdihakim Haret |
| Fafi Constituency | Dekaharia | Ahmed Noor Aden |
| Fafi Constituency | Jarajila | Noor Sheikh Farah |
| Fafi Constituency | Fafi | Hassan Aden Kolosho |
| Fafi Constituency | Nanighi | Abdullahi Ibrahim Sigat |
| Ijara Constituency | Hulugho | Adow Omar Said |
| Ijara Constituency | Sangailu | Abdi Muhyadin Abdi |
| Ijara Constituency | Ijara | Abdirahman Muktar Muhumed |
| Ijara Constituency | 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 County | Area (km$^2$) | Population 2019 Census | 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 | 8.3 |
| Totals | 44,753 | 841,353 | 18.8 |
Source

### Religion & Ethnicity

Most of the inhabitants of Garissa County are ethnically Somali and are predominantly Muslim.
* Christianity (2.2%)
* Islam (97.6%)
* Other religions (including Atheism) (0.2%)

## 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 Institutions :
| Category | No of Public | No of Private | Total |
| ECD | 210 | 137 | 347 |
| Primary School | 173 | 51 | 224 |
| Secondary School | 25 | 16 | 41 |
| Youth Polytechnic | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Teachers Training Colleges | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Technical Institutions | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Universities | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Source

## 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 Diseases :
| Diseases | Percentage |
| Upper Respiratory Tract Infections | 30.9 |
| Urinary Tract Infection | 15.2 |
| Diarrhoeal diseases | 9.5 |
| Diseases of the skin | 7.4 |
| Pneumonia | 6.7 |
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