Attachments
1. BACKGROUND
Trans Nzoia County is located between Mount Elgon and Nzoia River in the Rift Valley area on the Western Border of Kenya. During the first week of November 2025 heavy rainfall began in Trans Nzoia County, displacing 450 households by 5 November and approximately 12,000 individuals1 by 12 November 2025.
2. COORDINATION AND SUPPORT
Prior to the commencement of field activities, the assessment team conducted courtesy visits to both the Office of the County Commissioner, Mr. Gideon Nyandira Oyagi, and the Office of the Governor, H.E. George Natembeya, to brief them on the planned flood and damages assessment and to ensure alignment with ongoing county-level response effort. The County Commissioner appreciated the collaboration between the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), and commended the joint initiative to collect accurate household-level data to guide response planning. He emphasized the importance of coordination among national, county, and humanitarian actors, noting that reliable data would help channel assistance to the most affected and vulnerable households. The Commissioner reiterated the need for long-term flood mitigation strategies, including the reinforcement of dykes and river management systems, to reduce recurring displacements along the Sabwani River basin. The Governor of Trans Nzoia welcomed both IOM and KRCS teams and acknowledged the continued humanitarian support provided by KRCS to affected communities. He expressed appreciation for IOM’s technical engagement in data collection and analysis, underscoring that the County Government is committed to evidence-based decision making in disaster response and recovery. H.E. Natembeya highlighted that the county continues to spend substantial funds annually on emergency relief for flood-affected populations, which limits investments in long-term infrastructure solutions. He stressed the county’s vision to develop a permanent solution through the construction of an upstream dam in the Mt. Elgon area to regulate water flow and prevent downstream flooding. However, he acknowledged that resource constraints have delayed implementation. Both leaders endorsed and welcomed the Flood and Damages Assessment, expressing their readiness to collaborate in data sharing, validation, and dissemination of the findings to support coordinated humanitarian response and donor engagement. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen county-level disaster preparedness and resilience, ensuring that affected households receive timely and targeted assistance.
3. METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS
On 11 November 2025, the IOM DTM and KRCS teams conducted training for enumerators. Following training, IOM mapped the affected locations and allocated teams per sub-county. Household level sampling was arranged such that enumerators identified households using a random walk and sampled consented households to ensure statistically representative findings with 95 per cent confidence and 5 per cent margin of error, calculated using probability proportional to size at the level of the sub-county and Kenya National Census population data from 2019. Data collection was carried out from 12–13 November 2025 in the two most affected sub-counties — Kwanza and Endebess, covering a total of six villages and 370 households. The assessment covered locations in Endebess, Chepchoina, Amani, Matumbei, Kwanza, Kapomboi, Sabwani, Maliki, Mukhuweya, Namanjalala, Tembelela, Soymining, Budalangi. The sample consisted largely of younger and middle-aged adults, with few older persons represented in the dataset which limits generalizability to this subset of the population. Given the nature of surveying damage and the erratic nature of the natural hazard, generalizability beyond the surveyed sites is limited. Furthermore, most reponses were self-reported and so incur a bias toward over-reporting in hopes of obtaining additional resources,