Lamu County is a county in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

located along the North Coast of the country and is one of the six Coastal Counties in

. Its capital is the town of Lamu. It borders Tana River County to the southwest, Garissa County to the north,

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

to the northeast, and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

to the South. It is the smallest county in Kenya by population. The county has a land surface of , including the mainland and over 65 islands that form the Lamu Archipelago. The total length of the coastline is , while the land water mass area stands at .

Demographics

The county is made of a cosmopolitan population composed of communities such as Aweer, Oromo,

Somalis The Somali people (, Wadaad's writing, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic languages, East ...

, Swahilis,

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, Kore, Kikuyu, and other migrant communities from all over the country. The county had a total population of 143,920 of which 76,103 were males 67,813 females and 4 intersex persons during the 2019 census of Kenya. There were 37,963 households with an average household size of 3.7 persons per household and a population density of 23 people per square kilometre. The LAPSSET project was in 2016 expected to attract a huge migrant population, estimated at over one million people. This will certainly overstretch the county's social services necessitating commensurate development planning for adequate service provision.

Religion

Administrative and political units

Administrative units

The county has 2 constituencies: Lamu West and Lamu East. These two also consist of the two districts referred to as the sub-counties in Lamu County. Lamu West has Amu Mkomani, Shela, Hindi, Mkunumbi, Hongwe, Bahari and Witu Divisions while Lamu East has Faza, Basuba and Kiunga Divisions. There are 10 wards, 23 locations, and 38 sub-locations in the county.

Political units

There are two constituencies and ten county assembly wards.

=Constituencies

= * MP – Muthama, Stanley Muiruri Lamu West Constituency * MP – Ruweida Mohammed Obo Lamu East Constituency Source

Political leadership

In 2020 Issa Abdalla Timamy was the Governor, deputized by Raphael Munyua. Yasin Twaha was the second Governor, deputized by Aboud Bwana Abdulhakim First elected governor for the county was Issa Timamy, deputized by Eric Kinyua Mugo. Anuar Loitiptip was the second elected senator after Abu Chiaba.The Senator was Joseph Githuka The Women Representative was Monica Mūthoni Marubu. Ruweida Mohamed Obo was the women representative and was elected in 2017, before her wa
Shakila Abdalla
who was elected in 2013. For Lamu County, the County Executive Committee comprises:

Education

Lamu has 203 ECD centers, 139 primary schools and 25 secondary schools. There are also 58 adult training institutions, 6 vocational training centers as well as 3 universities.

Health

There are a total of 45 health facilities in the county, as well as one county referral hospital. The county has 316 health personnel of different cadre. HIV prevalence is at 3.5%, compared to the national 5.9%.

Transport and communication

The county is covered by 923.07 km of road network. Of this, 718.66 km is covered by earth surface, 198.41 km is murram surface and 6 km is covered by

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

. There are five Post Offices with 1,250 installed letter boxes, 653 rented letter boxes and 597 vacant letter boxes.

Trade and commerce

The main economic activities in the county include crop production, livestock production, fisheries, tourism and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

, most notably quarrying. Lamu is rich in minerals like titanium,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, coral stones, and sand. Lamu town is termed as "the oldest and best-preserved Swahili settlement in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

” but neighboring islands also have numerous archaeological remnants of history dating as far back as the 14th Century. Among the challenges facing Lamu is

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The World population, global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to aroun ...

owing to migration into Lamu from other parts of the country, fueled partly by the anticipated opportunities accruing from the Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor. Other challenges include landlessness and poor land management, insufficient social services such as healthcare and education, inadequate supply of piped and fresh water, under-developed infrastructure, and food insecurity. There are 9 trading centers, 606 registered businesses, 465 licensed retail traders, 7 supermarkets, 27 licensed wholesale traders, and 98 registered hotels. The county has two National reserves: Dodori, and Kiunga Marine, covering 877 km^2. Dodori is a breeding ground for the East Lamu Topi, and consists of a variety of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and birdlife including lions, elephant shrew, hippo, pelicans, and many more. It has the most varied species of mangrove forest in Kenya at Dodori Creek. Kiunga Marine Reserve consists of several

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s rich with biodiversity including valuable

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s, sea grass, extensive mangrove forests, and the endangered sea turtles and dugongs. Kiwayu Island, which is part of the reserve, is deemed as having the most pristine beach in Kenya.

Villages and settlements

References

External links

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Kenya AdminLevels 1-4

Article title

eLimu: Lamu County
{{Authority control Counties of Kenya