Murang’a County has retained its position as the country’s best-performing devolved unit for the second consecutive year, according to the latest Infotrak County Performance Index.
Infotrak chief executive Angela Ambitho said the results showed that Murang’a had established a national benchmark for county service delivery and institutional performance.
“Murang’a has set a national benchmark for county performance for the second year in a row, and we recognize that,” Ambitho said.
She noted that competition among counties was increasing, although performance remained uneven across regions and even among counties within the same region.
According to the findings, there is no single formula that guarantees success in county governance. High-performing counties have adopted different approaches depending on their leadership, institutional capacity and local priorities.
“There is no single development model that guarantees success. When we speak to the different counties, we find that they are using different models,” Ambitho said.
Education emerged as the highest-rated devolved function among citizens, reflecting stronger public satisfaction with services in the sector.
Health, however, remained one of the areas in which residents expected greater improvement from county governments.
Ambitho said the survey showed that the best-performing counties were those delivering consistently across several functions rather than concentrating on only one sector.
“You cannot be a high-performing county when you are delivering in only one function,” she said.
“We have seen counties that were previously not appearing among the top five in individual functions now ranking among the best-performing counties because they have been delivering consistently across the board.”
The findings also showed that counties led by women continued to record strong results.
Although women govern only six of Kenya’s 47 counties, all six were ranked among the top 25 nationally. Homa Bay County, led by Governor Gladys Wanga, was placed among the top 10.
Infotrak said the results demonstrated that strong county performance was being achieved under different leadership backgrounds and styles.
Frontier counties also recorded notable progress, challenging the perception that counties facing geographical, economic and infrastructural difficulties cannot perform competitively.
West Pokot was ranked joint 13th nationally and joint second in health, while Samburu entered the top 20 at position 19.
Garissa was identified as one of the most improved counties across several functions, including healthcare.
“Just because it is a frontier county does not mean it cannot perform,” Ambitho said.
She added that leadership and institutional performance were closely connected, although the two were not necessarily the same.
Ambitho said governors used different leadership approaches, but successful administrations were likely to share elements of transformational or transformative leadership.
“All these governors have different leadership styles, but I hope one of the things they all embrace is what leadership experts call transformational or transformative leadership,” she said.
The survey also assessed public perceptions of financial management and efforts to prevent corruption in county governments.
Kisii County received the highest rating for preventing corruption in the county government, with a score of 44 per cent.
Murang’a recorded the highest rating in the management of public funds at 47 per cent, reinforcing its overall position as the country’s leading county in the latest assessment.
The findings indicate that counties are increasingly being judged not only by visible development projects but also by the quality of services, financial accountability and the strength of their institutions.
They also suggest that sustained performance across education, health, infrastructure and public finance is becoming an important measure of effective devolution.
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