Senate Mashinani: Kilifi Under Spotlight as Senators Probe Health, Land, Water and Development

KILIFI, Kenya Sep 21 – Kilifi County is set to become the centre of devolved governance debate this week as the Senate moves its operations from Nairobi to Malindi for its fifth Senate Mashinani sitting.

The historic session, which began Sunday, will be the first time Parliament holds a sitting in the Coast region, offering residents an opportunity to interact directly with senators and parliamentary committees on issues ranging from healthcare and land to water, infrastructure, tourism and the blue economy.

Kilifi also has a long political history associated with questions of representation, power and the relationship between communities and the central government.

It is the birthplace of anti-colonial resistance heroine Mekatilili wa Menza and was home to nationalist politician Ronald Ngala, whose KADU movement advocated a more decentralised political arrangement at independence.

Today, Kilifi occupies an important position within the Senate itself. Kingi is the Speaker, while Madzayo is the Minority Leader and the elected senator for the county.

Senate committees will spend the week inspecting projects, questioning county and national government officials, examining audit findings, hearing petitions and meeting residents and stakeholders across the county.

Governor Gideon Mung’aro has welcomed the scrutiny, saying the county is ready to expose both its achievements and shortcomings to the senators.

“We are ready and eager to host the senators because the presence of the Senate in Kilifi offers us the opportunity to learn. We are open and ready to listen and be corrected if that will help deliver services to the people,” Mung’aro said.

He wants senators to visit county projects and offer advice on how they can be improved.

“Let them visit the projects we have implemented, offer advice on how best we can improve them to make our county the best,” he said.

The Senate Finance and Budget Committee is scheduled to engage the Kilifi County Executive on the status of pending bills, while the County Public Accounts Committee will meet suppliers and affected vendors over outstanding payments.

The latter committee will also inspect ongoing county projects, including the proposed Kilifi County headquarters and the proposed outpatient block at Kilifi County Referral Hospital.

The health committee will visit Malindi and Marafa sub-county hospitals before engaging the county government on the state of healthcare and preliminary findings from its oversight visits.

The Senate Education Committee will separately inspect ECDE centres in Malindi to assess implementation of recommendations contained in an Auditor-General performance audit on early childhood education in Kilifi.

For a county that has repeatedly raised concerns over inadequate infrastructure, healthcare, water scarcity and unemployment, the inspections will put the performance of devolved services under an unusually powerful microscope.

The Senate Land, Environment and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to examine a petition concerning alleged threats, intimidation, harassment and eviction of residents of Ganda Ward by private developers claiming to represent absentee landlords.

The committee will also inspect salt-mining operations at Krystalline Salt Limited in Marereni and sand quarries in Magarini to assess compliance with environmental audit requirements.

At Mnarani, the committee will investigate a land ownership dispute involving the jetty.

These engagements will put some of Kilifi’s most persistent problems land ownership, environmental degradation and control of natural resources directly before Parliament.

Water, another major challenge in the county, will receive attention from the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee, which will meet the Coast Water Works Development Agency and water service providers.

Mung’aro has identified water provision as one of the major challenges facing his administration.

He said that despite efforts to address challenges through the equitable share and intergovernmental structures, delivering water to residents remains difficult.

The issue has also been raised repeatedly by Kilifi Senator and Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo. In June, Madzayo sought answers in the Senate on the implementation and financing of the Sabaki Water Project serving Kilifi and Mombasa, as well as strategies for improving water access in Kilifi amid recurrent drought and climate pressures.

The Senate will also turn its attention to sectors that Kilifi hopes can drive its economic transformation.

The Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Committee, together with the Energy and Land committees, will inspect the Kilifi Central Fish Landing Site.

Senators will examine cold storage facilities, the fish banda, gear shed, solar project and waste digester and meet beach management units, traders and women’s groups.

The discussions will focus on sustainable fisheries and the integration of the blue economy into development.

The Trade, Industrialisation and Tourism Committee will inspect the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Sabaki and the shipbuilding facility at the Old Ferry Ramp on Kilifi Creek.

Later in the week, the committee will visit Malindi Marine National Park and Reserve and the Mambrui Sand Dunes.

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has framed the move as part of the institution’s responsibility to take Parliament to the people.

The Constitution permits either House of Parliament to hold its sittings anywhere in Kenya. Parliament says the Kilifi decision is anchored in Article 126(1), while Article 96 sets out the Senate’s role in representing and protecting the interests of counties and county governments.

Kingi has urged residents to seize the opportunity to engage with their representatives.

“All Kenyans are invited, and if they have any issues that they want the Senate to address and help them, then this is the best time,” he said.

Mr Madzayo, whose political base is Kilifi, delivered an even more direct appeal to residents.

“This is a lifetime experience for Kilifi people. I want to tell the people of Kilifi to use this opportunity because we don’t know when the Senate will come to Kilifi again,” he said.

“Let them bring their petitions and raise any issues that they have and want the Senate to help them address.”

Senate Clerk Jeremiah Nyegenye says the programme has evolved considerably since its inception.

He said the previous sittings have given the Senate an opportunity to engage citizens in their own counties, interact with county leaders and expose the public to the work, mandate and procedures of Parliament.

The experience, he said, has also helped Parliament improve its planning, logistics, public participation and coordination with county governments.

But Nyegenye cautioned against measuring the success of Senate Mashinani simply by the number of events held.

The real test, he said, is whether the issues raised by citizens are followed up and translated into meaningful institutional action.

The Kilifi County Assembly has suspended its own sittings for the week to facilitate the Senate Mashinani programme. The county legislature is expected to work closely with Senate committees and staff during the exercise.

The previous editions were held in Uasin Gishu in 2018, Kitui in 2019, Turkana in 2023 and Busia in 2025. Kilifi becomes the fifth county to host the programme.