Not to be confused with the defunct
county councils of Kenya, the
counties of Kenya are geographical units envisioned by the
2010 Constitution of Kenya as the units of
devolved government. The powers are provided in Articles 191 and 192, and in the fourth schedule of the Constitution of Kenya and the County Governments Act of 2012. The counties are also single member constituencies for the election of members of parliament to the
Senate of Kenya and special women members of parliament to the
National Assembly of Kenya. As of 2013 general elections, there are 47 counties whose size and boundaries are based on the 47 legally recognised
Districts of Kenya. Following the re-organisation of Kenya's national administration, counties were integrated into a new national administration with the national government posting county commissioners to represent it at the counties.