Creation of Mwingi County will bring services closer to the people-MP Wambua

 THE dream for having Mwingi County got a boost after Kitui senator Enoch Kiio Wambua sponsored a Bill in August 2021.

The bill was published in Kenya Gazette Supplement on August 12.

The Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill, 2021 seeks to introduce a new county to add to the existing 47 counties. If passed into law, it will be called Mwingi County (15A. Mwingi).

“The object of this Bill is to amend the Constitution of Kenya to ensure that resources and services are brought closer to the people by splitting the vast expansive Kitui County into two Counties of Kitui and Mwingi respectively”, reads the new bill in part.

The new county of Mwingi will consist of the traditional three constituencies of Mwingi region plus Kitui East sub county. The constituencies are Mwingi Central, Mwingi West, Mwingi North and Kitui East.

According to the 2019 national census report, the four constituencies had a total population of 558,000 people spread across 21 wards.

Kitui County has 40 wards.

In November last year, residents from the larger Mwingi region demonstrated calling for creation of Mwingi County saying if that won’t happen, then they won’t support the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which has since been stopped by the courts.

The Mwingi region alone has over 400,000 residents. There are counties in Kenya which are smaller in terms of population than Mwingi, residents say and are supported by 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) census report. 

Story By MUSYOKA NGUI, EDITED By BONIFACE MWANIKI