Mandera County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. It has its headquarters in Mandera town. The county is dominantly inhabited by Gurreh, Murulle and Dagodia communities while the corner tribes include: Sheqal, Warabeya, Gabawein, Sharmoge, Shabelle, Leisan, Marehan, Hawadle and Asharaf are regarded as minority group. The Watta Community is the predominant minority and marginalized community in Mandera County, and are completely excluded from political representation The main economic activity in Mandera County is pastoralism, contributing approximately to 72% of the total household income. Cross-border trade, artisanal mining, beekeeping and irrigation-aided agriculture are the other viable ventures. Bee-keeping is gaining popularity in most parts of the county, while irrigated subsistence agriculture is practiced along the Daua River. There is also an emerging practice of irrigation-rain-fed farming which is a new concept for the farmers though costly at the inception. The common livestock breeds reared in the county are goats, cattle, camels, sheep, donkeys and chickens. Mandera County is a bona fide member of Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) Regional Bloc.
Mandera County has a land area of 25,942Km2 (2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census). It is located in the far North Eastern part of Kenya. It borders Ethiopia to the North, Somalia to the East and Wajir County to the South-west. The county lies between latitudes 03°55’N North, and longitudes 41°53’E. Figure 1below shows the location of Mandera County in Kenya.
The county is divided into twelve sub-counties namely: Mandera East, Lafey, Mandera North, Banisa, Mandera West, Mandera South, Kutulo, Arabia, Kiliwehiri, Ashabito, Dandu and Khalalio. The county is also divided into six parliamentary constituencies namely: Mandera East, Lafey, Mandera North, Banisa, ManderaWest, Mandera South which are further subdivided into 30 electoral wards that are subdivided into locations, sublocations and villages.
The 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Survey report (KPHC) showed that Mandera County had a population of 867,457 persons. This comprised 434,976 male (50.14%), and 432, 444 female (49.85%), and 37 intersexes. The county’s population is projected to be 935,251 persons comprising of 458,271 male, 476,980 female, 1,007,207 persons, comprising of 493, 531 male, 513,676 female and 1,060,236 persons comprising of 519,513 male, 540,723 male in 2022, 2025 and 2027 respectively. Below is a tabulated projection of the population by age cohorts based on the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Survey (KPHC) and the population projection for 2022, 2025 and 2027.
