Kenya is pushing forward the Statistics Bill 2026, with one of the objectives of the bill, promoted by the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, is to align Kenya’s statistical system with the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
As such, there is a devolution-focused provision that requires every county government to establish a county statistics office to handle local statistical functions.
“Each county government shall establish a County Statistics Office responsible for statistical functions at the county level”, reads section 41 of the proposed bill.
This office will be led by a county statistician, appointed by the respective county public service board. The county statistician position has a minimum educational and work requirement. One has to have a master’s degree in statistics, economics, mathematics, data science or a similar field and seven years’ relevant experience.
County Public Service Boards will also appoint necessary staff as public officers to support the work of the statistics office.
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Data coordination is another aim of the bill, and at the county level, a County Intergovernmental Coordination Committee on Statistics is proposed. This committee will include the county statistician, authority representative, county commissioner, and two executive appointees.
The committee is responsible for harmonising national and county statistical policies while ensuring all county offices uniformly apply the county office-approved standards and methodologies.
Its mandate includes evaluating and recommending statistical programs, establishing a framework for coordination between county offices and the central county statistics office, and managing joint statistical initiatives across various county departments and agencies.
Kenya is working to harmonise its data sharing frameworks and also ensure its laws are relevant to the modern data environment.
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The Statistics Bill 2026 aligns with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, the Data Protection Act 2019, advances in big data, citizen-generated data, and biometrics.
It seeks to repeal and replace the outdated Statistics Act of 2006, which created the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). As per law, the public participation phase on the bill is open till May 20 2026.
