[1] The establishment and executive powers of the counties is provided in Chapter Eleven of the Constitution on devolved government, the Constitution's Fourth Schedule and any other legislation passed by the Senate of Kenya concerning counties.
They are grouped below according to the former province they were separated from, with their areas and populations as of the 2009[6] and the 2019 census:[7] Abbreviations County governments are responsible for county legislation (outlined in article 185 of the Constitution of Kenya), executive functions (outlined in article 183), functions outlined in the fourth schedule of the constitution of Kenya, functions transferred from the national government through article 187 of the constitution of Kenya, functions agreed upon with other counties under article 189(2) of the constitution of Kenya, and establishment and staffing of a public service (under article 235 of the Constitution of Kenya).
[10] The functions of governments assigned to counties by the fourth schedule of the Constitution of Kenya are:[11] Counties are mandated by the 2010 constitution of Kenya to enact legislation and laws that ensures management and controls of fire fighting.
[15] Each county will be run by an executive committee, consisting of: Uniquely among democracies, Kenyan law requires governors to have a recognised university degree.
[18] The counties each have an assembly[19] whose members are elected from single-member constituencies known as wards.