High Court Orders Fresh Census In 3 Counties
The Court found that the KNBS failed to uphold fundamental data integrity standards during the 2019 census leading to inaccurate population figures for the affected areas.
Marvin Chege 
A High Court in Garissa has instructed the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) to conduct a fresh census in the counties of Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa. This is after the court on Wednesday, January 28 nullified the 2019 census results for the three counties over what it cited as glaring irregularities.
The Court found that the KNBS failed to uphold fundamental data integrity standards during the 2019 census leading to inaccurate population figures for the affected areas.
Justice John Onyiego, in his ruling, dismissed the census results for Mandera North, Mandera South, Mandera East, Mandera West, Lafey, and Banisa sub-counties in Mandera County.
The judge also annulled the results of nearly all Garissa sub-counties, including those from Balambala, Lagdera, Dadaab, and Garissa townships. In Wajir, Justice Onyiego cancelled the results for Eldas, Tarbaj, Wajir West, Wajir North, and Wajir East.
The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi. /FILE
While delivering the ruling, the judge ordered the KNBS to conduct a fresh mini-census in the affected areas within one year from the date of the judgement. This means that residents of the affected counties will have to use the 2009 census data until KNBS completes conducting fresh population statistics.
The ruling prevents all constitutional bodies, including the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), from utilizing the disputed census data for official functions. Alongside the IEBC, other affected institutions, such as the National Treasury and the Commission on Revenue Allocation, are also prohibited from referencing the contested 2019 census results.
The results of this fresh exercise will be used to determine the accurate population figures for resource allocation, boundary delimitation, and other administrative purposes.
“That an order of prohibition do and is hereby issued prohibiting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th respondents from relying on or in any other way from utilizing the disputed published 2019 KPHC results under Articles 215, 216 and 89,” the court directed.
The ruling originated from a consolidated petition filed by several politicians from three counties, led by Senator Yusuf Haji, contesting the 2019 KNBS census results in court.
The petitioners claimed that the figures published by the Bureau of Statistics did not truly represent the actual population recorded on the ground. They accused KNBS of deliberately altering the census data by significantly lowering their population figures, which negatively impacted the region’s social, economic, and political status.
In response, KNBS defended its process by explaining that it had conducted benchmarking visits to various countries before carrying out the census. Testifying in court, KNBS Director General McDonald George stated that a post-census evaluation survey was not conducted in 2019 due to financial constraints, leading to the adoption of an alternative approach.
He further explained that the 2009 census had recorded inflated population figures in the Northeastern region, necessitating adjustments through a smoothing process in the 2019 census. However, he affirmed that the overall results of the 2019 census were accurate.
