Kajiado | Kenya Inequalities (2024)

Population

Kajiado County has a combination of a child rich and a transitional population structure. Overally, 42% of the population is aged between 0-14 with Kajiado Central (50%), Kajiado West (48%) and Kajiado South (49%) constituencies having the highest proportion of children. The county also has a high proportion of the working age (15-64) population especially in Kajiado North (66%) and Kajiado East (60%) constituencies. This may be explained by the growth of Ngong and Ongata Rongai Wards in Kajiado North as well as Kitengela Ward in Kajiado East that have attracted high numbers of migrants from rural areas and provided residency for people working in the city of Nairobi and its environs.

Employment

The 2009 population and housing census covered in brief the labour status as tabulated below. The main variable of interest for inequality discussed in the text is work for pay by level of education. The other variables, notably family business, family agricultural holdings, intern/volunteer, retired/homemaker, fulltime student, incapacitated and no work are tabulated and presented in the annex table 10.3 up to ward level.

Table 10: Overall Employment by Education Levels in Kajiado County

In Kajiado County, 12% of the residents with no formal education, 32% of those with primary education and 44% of those with a secondary level of education or above are working for pay. Work for pay is highest in Nairobi at 49% and this is 5 percentage points above the level in Kajiado for those with secondary level of education or above.

Gini Coefficient

In this report, the Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of '0' represents perfect equality, while an index of '1' implies perfect inequality. Kajiado County’s Gini index is 0.403 compared with Turkana County, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

Education

A total of 28% of Kajiado County residents have a secondary level of education or above. Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 49%. This is almost five times Kajiado South constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Kajiado North constituency is 21 percentage points above the county average. Ongata Rongai ward has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 59%.This is 30 times Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Ongata Rongai ward is 31 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 42% of Kajiado County residents have a primary level of education only. Kajiado South constituency has the highest share of residents with a primary level of education only at 47%. This is 9 percentage points above Kajiado West constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with a primary level of education only. Kajiado South constituency is 5 percentage points above the county average. Imaroro ward has the highest share of residents with a primary level of education only at 55%. This is five times Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a primary level of education only. Imaroro ward is 13 percentage points above the county average.

Some 31% of Kajiado County residents have no formal education. Kajiado Central constituency has the highest share of residents with no formal education at 48%. This is four times Kajiado North constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with no formal education. Kajiado Central constituency is 17 percentage points above the county average. Mosiro ward has the highest percentage of residents with no formal education at 87%. This is almost nine times Ongata Rongai Township ward, which has the lowest percentage of residents with no formal education. Mosiro ward is 56 percentage points above the county average.

Energy » Cooking Fuel

Only 13% of residents in Kajiado County use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while 19% use paraffin, 41% use firewood and 25% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender with 35% of male headed households and 53% in female headed households using it.

Kajiado South constituency has the highest level of firewood use in Kajiado County at 79%.This is 71 percentage points above Kajiado North constituency, which has the lowest share. Kajiado South is about 38 percentage points above the county average. Two wards, Mosiro and Entonet/Lengism, have the highest level of firewood use in Kajiado County at 96% each. This is 32 times the Ongata Rongai ward, which has the lowest share. Mosiro and Entonet/Lengism are 55 percentage points above the county average.

Kajiado East constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Kajiado County at 34%.This is twice Kajiado West constituency, which has the lowest share. Kajiado East constituency is 9 percentage points above the county average. Kaputiei North ward has the highest level of charcoal use in Kajiado County at 47%.This is 45 percentage points more than Mosiro ward. Kaputiei North ward is 22 percentage points above the county average.

Energy » Lighting

While 40% of residents in Kajiado County use electricity as their main source of lighting, a further 19% use lanterns, and 36% use tin lamps and 2% use fuel wood. Electricity use is more common in male headed households at 44% as compared with female headed households at 32%.

Kajiado North constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 71%.That is 12 times Kajiado South constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Kajiado North constituency is 31 percentage points above the county average. Ongata Rongai ward has the highest level of electricity use at 88%.That is 88 percentage points above Oloodokilan and Mosiro wards which have the lowest levels of electricity use. Ongata Rongai ward is 48 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Flooring

In Kajiado County, 57% of residents have homes with cement floors, while 39% have earth floors. Less than 1% has wood and 4% have tile floors. Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of cement floors at 81%.That is almost thrice Kajiado South constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Kajiado North constituency is 24 percentage points above the county average. Kitengela ward has the highest share of cement floors at 88%.That is 44 times Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Kitengela ward is 31 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Roofing

In Kajiado County, 3% of residents have homes with concrete roofs, while 67% have corrugated iron sheet roofs. Grass and makuti roofs cover 11% of homes, and 10% have mud/dung roofs.

Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 83%.That is 35 percentage points above Kajiado West constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Kajiado North constituency is 16 percentage points above the county average. Nkaimurunya ward has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 87%.That is 22 times Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Nkaimurunya ward is 20 percentage points above the county average.

Kajiado South constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 36%.That is 36 percentage points above Kajiado North constituency, which has the lowest share of grass/makuti roofs. Kajiado South constituency is 25 percentage points above the county average. Imbirikani/Esselengei ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 59%. This is 59 percentage points above Ongata Rongai Township ward, which has no share of grass/makuti roofs. Imbirikani/Esselengei ward is 48 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Walls

In Kajiado County, 35% of homes have either brick or stone walls, 26% of homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls, 8% have wood walls, 27% have corrugated iron walls, 2% have grass/thatched walls and 2% have tin or other walls.

Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 57%.That is almost 10 times Kajiado South constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Kajiado North constituency is 22 percentage points above the county average. Ongata Rongai ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 77%.That is 76 percentage points above Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Ongata Rongai ward is 42 percentage points above the county average.

Kajiado Central constituency has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 56%.That is 19 times Kajiado North constituency, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Kajiado Central constituency is 30 percentage points above the county average. Purko ward has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 78%.That is 77 percentage points above Kitengela ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Purko ward is 52 percentage points above the county average.

Water

Improved sources of water comprise protected spring, protected well, borehole, piped into dwelling, piped and rain water collection while unimproved sources include pond, dam, lake, stream/river, unprotected spring, unprotected well, jabia, water vendor and others.

In Kajiado County, 66% of residents use improved sources of water, with the rest relying on unimproved sources. Use of improved sources varies by gender with 68% of male headed households and 63% in female headed households using it.

Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 77%.That is 25 percentage points above Kajiado West constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Kajiado North constituency is 11 percentage points above the county average. Purko and Kitengela wards have the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 86%. That is almost four times Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of residents using improved sources of water. Purko and Kitengela wards are 20 percentage points above the county average.

Sanitation

While 56% of residents in Kajiado county use improved sanitation, the rest use unimproved sanitation. Use of improved sanitation is higher in male headed households at 61% as compared with female headed households at 44%.

Kajiado North constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 82%. That is almost three times Kajiado Central constituency, which has the lowest share of residents using improved sanitation. Kajiado North constituency is 26 percentage points above the county average. Ongata Rongai ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 89%. That is 87 percentage points above Mosiro ward, which has the lowest share of residents using improved sanitation. Ongata Rongai ward is 33 percentage points above the county average