Kilifi County undecided over headquarters

By Joseph Masha

Kilifi County is located in North Coast and consists of five districts and constituencies.

Kilifi town is among three urban areas set to be developed to resort cities under Vision 2030. The others are Ukunda town in Kwale County and Isiolo.

Plans are also under way to construct a railway line linking Mombasa city and Kilifi town.

However, residents in the area are embroiled in a tug of war over the location of the county’s headquarters. While some residents want Malindi town to host the head office, others say Kilifi town is more suited for this purpose.

Mr George Kikami says Malindi town has the facilities to host the head office compared to Kilifi.

"Malindi is a big town compared to Kilifi," he said.

Those rooting for Kilifi say locating the head office in the town is the only way of ensuring infrastructure in the town is developed.

Bahari MP Benedict Gunda says he favours Kilifi town as it is strategically located.

Predictable weather

"We must have the headquarters in Kilifi town and not Malindi," he said.

Bahari, Malindi and Magarini constituencies are the greatest beneficiaries of the vibrant tourism business in the area. The constituencies also boast of a booming agricultural sector thanks to fertile soils and a predictable weather patterns.

Among the crops that do well in the region include maize and cassava.

Ganze constituency, on the other hand, relies entirely on livestock farming.

In a recent Government survey on poverty index, Ganze was rated the poorest district and constituency in the country.

Most residents of Kaloleni constituency, which covers Kaloleni and Rabai districts, earn a living working at Mabati Rolling Company at Mariakani, and the Athi River Cement Factory at Kaloleni.

While one part of Kilifi enjoys regular rains, the other part is dry and prone to food shortages.

The drought-prone regions in Kilifi are Tsangatsini and Bamba. Malindi and its environs constitute the other half characterised by the booming tourism business.

In fact, Malindi has since been nicknamed ‘Little Milan’ due to the huge number of tourists from Italy who flock the area.

Kilifi’s Mtwapa town is one of the 24-hour towns in Kenya. The town serves both Mombasa and Kilifi and has transport on a 24-hour basis.

The Kilifi county also hosts Pwani, a constituent university of Kenyatta University.

The districts that fall under this administrative unit are Kilifi, Malindi, Magarani, Ganze, Kaloleni and the recently created Rabai.

The county is also home to Magarini, Malindi, Bahari Ganze and Kaloleni constituencies.