1999 Population and Housing Census Volume 1- Population Distribution by Administrative Areas and Urban Centres

The 1999 Population and Housing Census was carried out under the provisions of the Statistics Ac t (Cap. 112) and Legal Notice No . 121 of 11th September 1998 and amendment No.25 of 22nd February 1999. It was the fourth census to be carried out since Independence and the sixth since 1948 when the first census was conducted in Kenya . Th e main objective of this census was to collect demographic and socio-economic data required for development planning and policy formulation . It was, therefore important that data collected be comprehensive, complete and accurate both in terms of coverage and quality. The planning and preparations of various census activities started in 1996 after Cabinet's approval. Th e exercise entailed the mapping of the entire country to ascertain administrative and socio-economic changes that had occurred since 1989; the mounting of a vigorous publicity and advocacy campaign to sensitize all stakeholders and setting up of various committees to guarantee participation and ownership of the exercise. H.E. The President launched the census, the theme of which was: Counting Our People for Development. The enumeration was successfully carried out between the night of 24th /25th and 31st August 1999. Most of the population was covered within the first 4 days. A total of 28,686,607 people were enumerated , reflecting a 34% increase over the 1989 census. Of these, 14,205,589 were males and 14,481,018 females. We extend our profound gratitude to all our development partners who collaborated and supported us in different forms throughout the entire census exercise. Forms of support received from development partners were either financial, material and/or technical assistance. Our thank s go to various census committees: the National Census Steering Committee ; the District Census Committees; and the Census Technical Committees, who worked tirelessly during the preparatory stages for the completion of the exercise. All Kenyan s deserve special thanks for their patience and willingness to provide the requisite information . It is our sincere hop e that in this "information age" the data contained in this volume and subsequent analytical volumes, will be fully utilized by all stakeholders for effective planning and policy formulation for the welfare of our people.