By Sherphine Oduor |October 24, 2026
Coastal residents have strongly rejected the proposed government plan to dissolve regional development agencies. The residents have maintained that true efficiency lies in reforming and strengthening local institutions to drive self-directed regional growth.
They called on MPs to halt the proposed dissolution of the Coast Development Authority among five others and instead enact the 2023 reform framework.
They also urged legislators to complete the legislative process for the Regional Development Authorities Bill, 2023, to enforce Chapter Six governance standards, financial audits by the Auditor-General, and clear performance benchmarks.
“ What we need to do is to formalize inter-county collaboration, redefine the CDA’s mandate to focus strictly on regional planning, investment facilitation, and coordination, complementing rather than competing with county governments”, observed Mr. Joseph Tunje a lecturer at Pwani University.
He also underscored the need to safeguard public assets and staff while protecting existing development agreements, ongoing community projects, and employment terms for institutional personnel.
The residents were presenting their views to the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Regional Development during public participation hearings on the Regional Development Authorities Laws (Repeal) Bill, 2026.
In the session led by Ganze MP Hon. Kazungu Tungule, stakeholders drawn from across the region urged Parliament to modernize and reform these institutions rather than scrap them outright.
The legislative proposal sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah seeks to repeal laws establishing six regional bodies, including the Coast Development Authority (CDA), and transfer their assets, rights, and obligations to the National Treasury.
However, residents and community organizations argue that winding up the CDA would strip the region of its sole dedicated institutional anchor for cross-county planning and integrated economic development.
In a detailed memorandum submitted on behalf of the Smart Move Community (SMC), a youth-led CBO operating in Kwale and Mombasa, Executive Director Jamal Abdallah Kidyogo emphasized that efficiency should not be used as a pretext for centralizing development authority back in Nairobi.
“Kenya is right to demand efficient, accountable institutions. But efficiency must not become a euphemism for centralization,” Kidyogo submitted.
“The Coast has been patient. It has watched other regions build powerful institutions while it struggled for recognition. The CDA represented the first credible promise that the Coast could plan its own future, coordinate its own resources, and speak with one voice”, he argued.
SMC pointed out that Parliament had already laid the groundwork for institutional reform through the Regional Development Authorities Bill, 2023, which sought to align the CDA’s mandate with the 2010 Constitution, introduce rigorous financial oversight, and enhance board governance.
“To repeal the CDA now, just when the region is awakening to its potential in agriculture, maritime trade, tourism, and the blue economy, is to extinguish a flame that has only just begun to burn,” Kidyogo cautioned.
“The Coast does not need less coordination; it needs stronger, modern, and accountable regional coordination.”
Concerns relating to the need to protecting local livelihoods and cross-county were also raised by residents and members of the Pwani University community who were represented by Vyron Andrew.
Mr. Vyron warned that dissolving the CDA without an active successor framework risks interrupting major ongoing development projects, delaying implementation, and weakening inter-county collaboration in vital sectors.
“Our position is clear. We support accountable and efficient government, but we do not support the dissolution of a regional development institution without adequate justification and demonstrable protection of the communities it serves,” they stated.
“For the people of Kilifi County and the wider Coastal region, the Coast Development Authority remains an important institution whose future deserves careful consideration”,
They highlighted several key regional interests that individual county governments are not structurally designed to address on their own, including coordinating cross-county marine conservation and fisheries management along the coastline stretching from Kwale to Lamu.
“We reject the dissolution of the Coast Development Authority. This Authority is credited with access to clean water across this region. CDA does not conflict with any county government function as the proponents of this Bill argue; it compliments their work”, Amina Rumba from Taita Taveta submitted.
The residents further voiced disappointment over the short timeframe provided for public engagement. They noted that the initial public notice window gave citizens across six expansive coastal counties barely two weeks to analyze and respond to legislation with far-reaching consequences.
“Communities in Lamu, Tana River, and Taita Taveta in particular have had limited time and access to information to engage substantively with a Bill of this consequence,” the memorandum noted, calling for extended county-wide public forums and translation of key documents into local languages”, the noted.
Reacting to the residents’ views on the Bill, Hon. Tungule who was accompanied by his Banissa counterpart Hon. Ahmed Maalim Hassan assured the residents that their views would count when the Committee retreats to develop its report to the House.
“Thank you very much for coming out in large numbers to share your views on the Bill. I want to assure you that we shall present your views and you have shared them with us when we retreat to write our report”, he assured the residents.
On his part, Hon. Hassan noted that majority of MPs representing marginalized areas who are served by these regional authorities had noted the sentiments of these residents and would consider the Bill with their interests at heart.
“We represent constituents who come from marginalized areas served by these regional authorities. We are keenly listening to the views across the six regions and I can assure you that we will consider this Bill with your interest at heart”, he pledged.
Later in the afternoon, the Committee undertook an inspection visit to Malindi Sub-County Hospital where the Authority has partnered with the Italian government to develop Intensive Care and High Dependency Units. They also visited Mjanaheri-Ngomeni Road project also being developed under a similar partnership.
A State Corporation established by an Act of Parliament No. 20 of 1990 (Cap 449), revised in 1992, the Coast Development Authority was established to accelerate socio-economic development through innovation, planning, coordination and partnerships in implementation of integrated programs, value-addition and environmental management.
The Authority’s mandate is to plan and co-ordinate the implementation of development projects in the entire Coast Region, namely, Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa, Taita-Taveta and Tana River Counties as well as southern Garissa and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
