Governance & Devolution

Governance & Devolution is a theme of the Governance pillar. It covers how the six coastal counties govern themselves under the Constitution of Kenya 2010, how they raise and spend public money, how they co-operate through the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani, and how they deal with the national government. The six counties were home to 4,329,474 people at the 2019 census, ranging from 1,453,787 in Kilifi County to 143,920 in Lamu County.¹ In 2024/25 their county governments raised between KES 203.23 million (Tana River County) and KES 5,125.71 million (Mombasa County) from their own sources.²

What this page is for

If you know of a county reform, a budget, an audit finding or a dispute between the two levels of government on the coast, please add it here with its source, along with the views of the people involved.

Governance & Devolution on the coast today

The Constitution lists among the objects of devolution giving people “powers of self-governance” and ensuring the equitable sharing of national and local resources,³ and it guarantees counties an equitable share of not less than 15 per cent of the revenue collected by the national government.⁴ Across all 47 counties, own-source revenue in 2024/25 came to KES 67.30 billion, 77 per cent of the combined target of KES 87.67 billion.⁵

Against their own targets, Tana River collected 133 per cent of its target, Lamu 92 per cent, Kwale 82 per cent and Kilifi 77 per cent, while Mombasa reached 74 per cent and Taita-Taveta 64 per cent. Spending on development lagged further: the share of the development budget actually spent ranged from 44 per cent in Kwale County to 63 per cent in Taita-Taveta County, with Mombasa at 62, Kilifi at 59, Tana River at 56 and Lamu at 53 per cent.⁶

At 30 June 2025 Kilifi reported pending bills of KES 9,255.60 million, equal to 43 per cent of its 2024/25 budget, against KES 3,867.70 million (22 per cent) in Mombasa, KES 2,353.25 million (26 per cent) in Tana River, KES 2,055.90 million (25 per cent) in Taita-Taveta, KES 1,899.60 million (13 per cent) in Kwale and KES 32.10 million (1 per cent) in Lamu.⁷

Plans and policy

Article 189(2) of the Constitution allows governments at both levels, and different county governments, to co-operate and to set up joint committees and joint authorities for that purpose.⁸ The Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2023-2027 says the Jumuiya rests on that article.⁹ A 2019 Council of Governors review recorded that a JKP Cooperation Agreement and a memorandum with the region’s universities were both signed in 2015, and that the bloc’s planned institutions included a secretariat, a Pwani Development Bank, a Coast Tourism Board, a regional bulk water company and a fishing port.¹⁰

The county plans for 2023-2027 are framed against Kenya Vision 2030 and its Fourth Medium Term Plan, which the Kwale CIDP says will carry out the national Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.¹¹ On regional co-operation, the Mombasa CIDP calls for JKP programmes to be mainstreamed into county plans and budgets, the Kwale CIDP commits the county to remain an active member, with its County Secretary coordinating JKP activities,¹² and the Tana River CIDP notes that the county also belongs to the Frontier Counties Development Council.¹³

Who is involved

Each county government consists of a county assembly and a county executive.¹⁴ The Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani has its secretariat in Mombasa under a chief executive, Emmanuel Nzai, and in February 2026 Tana River Governor Dhadho Godhana took over as its chair from Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro.¹⁵

Nationally, the Office of the Controller of Budget reports on how each county raises and spends its budget, the Commission on Revenue Allocation prepares the formula for sharing revenue between the two levels of government,¹⁶ and the Council of Governors has supported the regional blocs. Among development partners, the European Union funded the Go Blue programme, a four-year, EUR 25 million initiative run with the JKP, UN-Habitat, UNEP and agencies from France, Germany, Italy and Portugal;¹⁷ by February 2026 the bloc said it had trained 2,000 women and youth and delivered 26 fishing boats.

Open questions

Should host counties share in port revenue? In 2023 Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sherrif Nassir argued that the Constitution “envisioned local governments retaining a share” of revenue from assets within their borders, and President William Ruto said Mombasa was entitled to a share of port income. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u replied that ports are national assets and the Constitution makes no provision for such sharing, while a Commission on Revenue Allocation commissioner urged counties to raise revenue through their own laws on devolved services. In May 2024 the Kenya Ports Authority began collecting Mombasa’s parking fees from trucks inside port facilities on the county’s behalf, a deal the Daily Nation described as ending the long-running dispute.¹⁸

Can the Jumuiya outlast its founders? In 2016 academics told The Star that governors had become “too busy” for the bloc and Kaloleni MP Gunga Mwinga declared it dead, while its then chair, Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya, said everything was on course.¹⁹ The Mombasa CIDP still lists an inadequate legal framework to anchor the JKP as a gap.

How will old bills be cleared? Of Kilifi’s pending bills at June 2025, KES 1,406.07 million were more than three years old,²⁰ and the Controller of Budget reminded counties that the regulations require eligible pending bills to be a first charge on the 2025/26 budget.

Coverage the plan expects

• county integrated development plans
• Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani
• revenue and finance
• national-county relations
• pending bills and budget absorption

Sources

• County Governments Budget Implementation Review Report FY 2024/25, Office of the Controller of Budget, 2025
• The Constitution of Kenya, 2010, Republic of Kenya, 2010
• County Regional Economic Blocs, Volume I: Status Report, Council of Governors, 2019
• Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Mombasa, 2023
• Kwale County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Kwale, 2023
• Tana River County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Tana River, 2023
• Governor Godhana takes over stewardship of Coast economic block, Kenya News Agency, 2026
• County’s hopes of share of Mombasa port revenues dashed, Daily Nation, 2023