A recent CountyTrak Performance Index 2024 has revealed significant disparities in the performance of Kenya’s county governments across key devolved sectors, including agriculture, education, health, trade and tourism, energy, and infrastructure.
While some counties have shown remarkable progress, many continue to struggle with governance, service delivery, and economic development.
Murang’a and Trans Nzoia emerged as the best-performing counties in agriculture, each scoring 51 per cent. They were followed closely by Elgeyo Marakwet and Homa Bay (50 per cent), with Uasin Gishu rounding off the top five at 49 per cent.
The agricultural performance index assessed counties based on facilitation of crop and livestock farming, market access for agricultural produce, food affordability and accessibility and management of livestock diseases.
At a regional level, Central Kenya led with an average performance of 47 per cent, followed by Rift Valley at 45 per cent, while Nairobi ranked the lowest at 33.
The bottom five counties in agriculture performance included Kilifi, Nyandarua, Nandi, Laikipia, and Turkana, each scoring 42 per cent.
Despite leading in the health care performance, Homa Bay County’s score dropped from 57 per cent in 2023 to 53 per cent in 2024, reflecting a broader national decline in healthcare services. Murang’a follows closely at 52, with Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Kisii, and Kisumu tying at 46 per cent.
The national mean healthcare score remains low at 41.6 per cent, with counties struggling to equip and staff hospitals adequately.
Turkana (42), Narok (42), and Busia (41) were among the lowest-ranked counties. Makueni County, once leading with 64 per cent in 2020, has now dropped to 45 per cent, highlighting the instability in healthcare performance.
Education, a critical pillar of development, has also seen declining national performance. Murang’a led the education index with 54 per cent, followed by Homa Bay (53 per cent) and Trans Nzoia (51 per cent).
Despite this, the national mean score stood at 45.8 per cent, signaling gaps in early childhood education, vocational training, and bursary allocations.
Fluctuating county rankings indicate inconsistent progress. For instance, West Pokot, which topped the rankings in 2023 with 63 per cent, has now dropped to 49 per cent.
The bottom-ranked counties were noted for lacking well-equipped Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, underdeveloped vocational training institutions, and complaints over unfair bursary allocations.
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Infrastructure is a key challenge, with the national mean score for roads and transport at 42.4 per cent. Homa Bay emerged as the best-performing (52 per cent), followed by Murang’a (51 per cent) and Kirinyaga, Kisii, and Kisumu (48 per cent). Counties were evaluated based on road construction and maintenance, public transport system organisation, traffic management and installation of street lighting.
Despite some improvements, many counties still struggle with poor roads, unregulated public transport, and inadequate traffic management.
Energy access is another critical area of concern. Murang’a County topped the energy performance index at 53 per cent, followed by Nyeri (50 per cent) and Kirinyaga and Homa Bay (49 per cent). However, the national mean score was only 44.2 per cent, reflecting widespread gaps in energy accessibility and clean energy adoption.
