Gladys Wanga
Homa Bay County has emerged as the best-performing county in healthcare, while Murang’a County has been recognized for its outstanding performance in agriculture, according to the 2024 survey by pollster Infotrak.
Released on Tuesday, the survey ranked Homa Bay County first in the health sector with a score of 53 percent, up from second place in 2023. This marks a notable achievement for Governor Gladys Wanga’s administration, though the county’s score saw a slight dip of four percentage points from 2023, when it had achieved a 57 percent score while still topping the rankings.
Murang’a County, led by Governor Irungu Kang’ata, secured second place in the health sector with a score of 52 percent. This was an impressive improvement for Murang’a, which moved up six positions from its eighth-place ranking in 2023, maintaining the same score of 52 percent.
In addition to its strong performance in healthcare, Murang’a County excelled in agriculture, achieving a score of 51 percent, making it the top performer in the agricultural sector. This marked a slight decline from its 2023 score of 56 percent, but still represented a notable improvement in the sector. Murang’a tied with Trans Nzoia County for the top position in agriculture. Elgeyo Marakwet and Homa Bay were tied for third place in the agriculture rankings, with a score of 50 percent each.
The health sector rankings saw Kirinyaga County come in third with 46 percent, sharing the position with Nyeri, Kisii, Trans Nzoia, and Kisumu counties. Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, and Kiambu counties were tied for seventh place with a score of 45 percent. Counties including Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, and Migori shared 11th place, each scoring 44 percent.
The survey gathered data on county government performance across multiple sectors, with respondents rating their counties on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 represented extremely poor performance and 10 represented excellence.
In the healthcare category, performance was assessed based on factors such as affordable medical treatment, the availability of well-equipped health facilities with adequate medical personnel and supplies, effective disease prevention efforts, and public health information dissemination. Access to sanitation facilities, such as pit latrines and public toilets, was also a critical criterion.
The survey, conducted between October and December 2024, included a sample of 39,795 respondents from all 47 counties. Data was collected through Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and analyzed using SPSS software. The results were based on a 1–10 Likert scale for each indicator, which was used to compute the overall county performance index as an average of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
This survey serves as an important benchmark for county governments, shedding light on areas of excellence and those requiring attention in the delivery of essential public services to the people of Kenya.
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