Government Constitutes Special Committees to Re-draw Urban Boundaries in Embu, Turkana and Wajir

The government has initiated a fresh push to rationalise urban governance by constituting a series of ad hoc committees tasked with reviewing and delineating boundaries for proposed municipalities and urban centres in Embu, Turkana and Wajir counties.

In notices published in the Kenya Gazette on December 11, Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Alice Wahome announced the appointments, citing powers conferred under Section 4A(2) of the Urban Areas and Cities Act. The committees take effect retrospectively from July 1, 2025.

In Embu County, the CS established separate committees to oversee boundary reviews for the proposed municipalities of Siakago, Runyenjes and Kiritiri, underscoring the government’s intent to accelerate the formalisation of urban centres in the region.

Each committee will be chaired by a nominee from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and brings together a cross-section of expertise drawn from the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development; the ministries responsible for Environment and Agriculture; relevant county departments; and professional bodies, including the Kenya Institute of Planners and the Institute of Surveyors of Kenya.

For the proposed Siakago municipality, Wahome appointed IEBC representative Irene Kyatu as chairperson. She will head a team comprising, among others, Mutua Mutisya from the Ministry of Lands, Simon Odawa from the Environment docket, Kariuki Peter Kuria representing Agriculture, Elizabeth Mutisya of the Kenya Institute of Planners, and Christopher Kinyua from the Institute of Surveyors of Kenya.

In Turkana County, a separate ad hoc committee has been constituted to delineate the boundaries of Lodwar and Kakuma municipalities, while in Wajir County, another committee has been tasked with reviewing boundaries for the urban areas of Bute, Habaswein, Hadado, Eldas, Tarbaj, Khorof Harar and Griftu. The move is aimed at regularising their urban status and integrating them into the national urban planning framework.

According to the gazette notices, the committees are mandated to assess and propose boundaries in accordance with legal, planning and environmental parameters—a critical prerequisite in the establishment and upgrading of municipalities and urban areas.

The initiative is expected to bolster orderly urban growth, improve service delivery and entrench sound urban governance, in line with the government’s broader urbanisation agenda.

Under the law, an urban centre must have a minimum population of at least 70,000 residents, based on the most recent census, to qualify for municipality status. It must also demonstrate the presence of adequate infrastructure—including roads, markets and fire services—as well as sufficient land for future expansion.

The exercise unfolds against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of the IEBC, which remains at the centre of a protracted debate over the fate of 40 constituencies whose status remains unresolved.

The commission was constitutionally required to conduct its last boundary review by March 2024, marking the end of the 12-year cycle following the previous review in 2012. However, delays in reconstituting the IEBC stalled the process.

During the last review, 27 constituencies that failed to meet the population threshold were shielded through a political compromise, effectively deferring a final determination to the next review cycle.

Boundary reviews remain a constitutional imperative, designed to safeguard fair and equitable representation in Parliament and county assemblies, as well as to ensure the just distribution of national resources across the country.