Kang’ata administration excels in development score card, report states

County chiefs who graced the function in Nairobi

The Mountain Journal 

Murang'a County has emerged as Kenya's best-performing county in the latest CountyTrak Performance Index 2026 released by Infotrak Research and Consulting, outperforming all other devolved units in the country.

The survey released  this week ranked Murang'a first nationally with an overall score of 54 percent, followed by Kiambu at 52 percent and Trans Nzoia at 50 percent.

Murang'a's under Governor Irungu Kang’ata was ranked the top backed by strong performances across multiple sectors, that included Housing, Lands and Settlement, Social Services, Trade and Tourism, and Culture and Sports.

Homa Bay emerged as the best-performing county in the Nyanza region after tying for fourth nationally with Elgeyo Marakwet, Kisii and Uasin Gishu at 49 per cent.

The CountyTrak Performance Index measures residents' satisfaction with county governments across devolved functions, including agriculture, energy, environment, housing, trade and tourism, culture and sports, social services and planning.

Kiambu dominated the Energy function with a score of 56 per cent, ahead of Murang'a at 54 per cent, while Trans Nzoia and Murang'a jointly topped the Environment and Natural Resources category after each recorded 55 per cent.

In agriculture, Trans Nzoia emerged as the country's best-performing county after posting a score of 60 per cent. Murang'a followed with 56 per cent, ahead of Kiambu at 55 per cent, Uasin Gishu at 54 per cent and Elgeyo Marakwet at 53 per cent.

Homa Bay was among the counties that featured strongly in the national rankings, tying for fourth place overall with a score of 49 per cent alongside Elgeyo Marakwet, Kisii and Uasin Gishu.

The lakeside county also stood out in specific devolved functions, ranking second nationally in Social Services with 50 per cent and featuring among the leading counties in Trade and Tourism, Housing, Lands and Settlement, and Culture and Sports.

According to the survey, the average score across counties remained below 50 per cent in most devolved functions, suggesting residents believe there is still significant room for improvement in service delivery. 

Among the functions assessed, Agriculture recorded the highest average public satisfaction at 44.4 per cent, followed by Environment at 47.9 per cent, while Housing, Lands and Settlement and Trade and Tourism each posted an average score of 42.7 per cent.

The report further showed regional disparities in performance, with Murang'a leading not only nationally but also in the Central region, while Garissa emerged as the highest-ranked county in North Eastern.

Infotrak noted a 12-point gap between the top-performing counties across the two regions.