Lamu County Profile

County Code: 005

Current Governor: H.E Fahim Yasin Twaha

Current Senator: Kamau Joseph Githuku

Lamu County is one of the forty seven (47) counties in the Republic of Kenya. It is located in the northern coast of Kenya and is one of the six counties in the coastal region of Kenya. The number of households who have title deeds stand at 13000. 13000 is 42% of the total land. A large portion of land in the county remains unregistered. This include areas in Kiunga, Faza, parts of Hindi, Manda Island, Witu and Bahari. Most of these areas are ancestral land. The government is hastening the process of resettlement whose aim is to conserve the Swahili village in the county. The headquarters of Lamu County are in Lamu Town.

Geography

Lamu County borders Tana River County to the southwest, Garissa County to the north, Republic of Somalia to the northeast and the Indian Ocean to the south. The county has a land surface area of 6.273.1 KM square that includes the mainland and over 65 Islands that form the Lamu Archipelago.

Demographics

As of the 2019 census, Lamu County had a population of 143,920, making it the least populated county in Kenya. The county of Lamu is made of a cosmopolitan population composed of communities such as Boni, Ormas, Swahilis, Arabs, Koreni, Kikuyu, and other migrant communities from the rest of the country. The county has a total population of 143,920 of which 76,103 are males 67,813 females and 4 intersex persons. There are 37,963 households with an average household size of 3.7 persons per household and a population density of 23 people per square kilometer

Administrative and Political Units of Lamu County

Lamu County has 2 sub-counties as administrative units, which also serve as constituencies for the political formation of the county. These sub counties or constituencies are Lamu East and Lamu West divided into 10 electoral wards.

Lamu East Sub County and Constituency has 3 wards namely: Faza, Kiunga, and Basuba.

Lamu West has seven wards including Shella, Mkomani, Hindi, Mkunumbi, Hongwe, Witu, Bahari.

Political Leadership

Lamu County is one of the few counties that have changed their senators for last three elections. The first senator of Lamu County was Abu Chiaba, and he was succeeded by Annuar Loitiptip. The current senator of Lamu County is Hon. Joseph Githuka.

In terms of governorship, Lamu County electorates also elected three different governors since devolution started in 2013. The first governor of the county was Issa Timmamy whose deputy governor was Eric Kinyua Mugo, followed by the second Governor H.E. Yasin Twaha whose deputy was H.E. Bwana Abdulhakim. The third and current governor of the County is H.E. Issa Adballa Timamy, deputized by H.E. Raphael Munyua.

Lamu County also has three different elected women representatives since devolution started. The first woman represented who was elected in 2013 was Shakila Abdalla, who was succeeded by Ruweida Mohamed Obo. The current and third woman representative of Lamu County is Monica Muthoni Marubu.

The table below shows a summary of elected leaders of Lamu County since 2013

Education and Health

Lamu has 203 ECD centers, 139 primary schools and 25 secondary schools. There are also 58 adult training institutions, 6 vocational training centers as well as 3 universities. The county of Lamu also has a total of 45 health facilities in the county, as well as one county referral hospital. The county has 316 health personnel of different cadre.

Economic Activities

The main economic activity of Lamu County is farming, including fisheries, crop production, and livestock production. Tourism and mining are also high income earners for the county. Quarrying is a notable economic activity with several minerals such as salt, limestone, and coral stones being mined in large quantities from Lamu County. In terms of tourism, Lamu is attractive as a beach city and a home to some of the oldest and most-preserved sites in East Africa.