2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census “Counting Our People for Implementation of Vision 2030” Volume VII Migration

Abstract

The 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census was the fifth to be undertaken in Kenya since independence and the seventh since 1948. Like the previous censuses, the 2009 Census was a de facto census conducted on the night of 24th/25th August 2009, though the questionnaire also allowed for de jure enumeration. The migration monograph is based on the recognition that Kenya is a signatory to various migration conventions, treaties and policies such as the United Nations Convention on Rights and Protection of Refugees (1951). Over the years, migration policies in Kenya have been sectoral, not national. Currently, most programmes related to migration are handled in partnership with international organisations such as United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and civil society organisations. This monograph aims at determining the levels, trends, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of internal and international migrants in Kenya, so as to establish the size, composition and spatial distribution of migrants in the country. Migration is becoming increasingly important across all of Africa and some of the researchers on migration advocate for greater inclusion of migration issues in the processes of development planning. The Global Commission on International Migration advocates for mainstreaming of migration into strategic development frameworks. The 2009 Census captured migration information using the household questionnaire and the emigrant short questionnaire. The key migration variables were place of birth, previous residence, duration of residence, and place of enumeration. Members of the households were also asked to provide information on emigrants in the last fifteen years using a short questionnaire. Nairobi Province had the highest number of recent out-migrants (153,655), followed by Eastern (146,021), Rift Valley (133,945), Central (109,998), Nyanza (107,220), and Western (104,907) in that order. North Eastern had the least number of recent out-migrants (14,340), followed by Coast (42,008). In Central, Nyanza, and Western provinces, majority of the recent out-migrants were female. The analysis shows that there was positive recent net-migration in Nairobi (94,033), being the highest, followed by Rift Valley (58,165). Coast and Central provinces also recorded net gain in the number of recent migrants of 25,841 and 25,116, respectively. The remaining provinces registered net loss of migrants, with Eastern Province showing the highest net loss of recent migrants (-94,594), and North Eastern Province the least (-6,713). Majority of in-migrants into Nairobi are females (57,551). Eastern, Central and Western provinces recorded more female out-migrants than males. The data further shows that Nyanza Province, which had a net gain of recent migrants (28,492) according to the 1999 Census, recorded a net loss of recent migrants (-41,643) in the year 2009. Further, Eastern Province that recorded a net loss of recent migrants in1999 (-42,603), had double net loss of recent migrants in the 2009(-94,594). On the other hand, it is worth noting that irrespective of the clashes after the 2007 General Elections that led to many cases of unrest in Rift Valley, the province still recorded a significant net gain of migrants (58,165) in 2009. This was the second highest after Nairobi, which recorded a net gain of 94,033. The analysis further shows that Nairobi, with 2,054,393 had the highest number of lifetime in-migrants, followed by Rift Valley (1,323,147), Central (600,009) and Coast (475,703). Central Province had the largest number of lifetime out-migrants (1,077,967), followed by Eastern (985,320), Western (960,309) and Nyanza (933,250), respectively. There were more female lifetime out-migrants than male in Nairobi, Central and Rift Valley provinces. Eastern Province registered -760,915 lifetime net migrants, the highest in 2009, followed by Western (-738,652), Nyanza (-697,720) and Central (-477,958) respectively. In Central Province, females were the majority of lifetime net migrants (Male, -219,861; Female, -258,097). Analysis by rural-urban migration shows that in Central and Coast Provinces, much of the migration was to the urban areas. However, in the other provinces, other than Nairobi (that is wholly urban) migration was predominant in the rural than urban areas. Age and sex characteristics of migrants indicate that most of them were young adults, usually migrating after secondary school. Majority of migrants were males. Eastern Province had the highest proportion of employed recent migrants (65.9 percent), followed by North Eastern (64.5 percent). Coast Province had the lowest number of employed recent migrants (52.8 percent), followed closely by Nairobi Province with 55.4 percent. Eastern Province had the lowest proportion of unemployed recent migrants (5.6 percent) and North Eastern with the highest proportion of unemployed recent migrants (16.9 percent). Immigration analysis shows that during the 2009 Census, there were 357,468 immigrants in Kenya (about 0.93 percent of the total Kenya population). Of these immigrants, the majority were from Africa (84.0 percent), followed by Asia (10.3 percent), Europe (4.0 percent) and America (1.6 percent). Immigrants from Australia and Caribbean were less than 1 percent. Majority of the immigrants were female. Kenya is surrounded by countries that have had civil strife in the last decade. This has led to refugees migrating into Kenya. Analysis of refugees shows that majority of them come to Kenya from countries in the region, namely: Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Eritrea among others. Slightly over 50 percent of refugees were from Somalia (53.4 percent). Of the total refugee population from Somalia, 51.7 percent were male. Sudan was the second major source of refugees in Kenya, contributing 4.0 percent of the total refugee population.