Kenya Scouts Association doubles membership to 4.4 million

The Kenya Scouts Association (KSA) has recorded a growth of over two million, doubling its youth and adult membership to 4.4 million, following a six-months countrywide census exercise undertaken with support of the Ministry of Education across the 47 counties.

Youth membership (6-26 years) now stands at over 4.3 million supported by close to 120,000 adult volunteers (above 26 years), with a near-equal gender parity of 50.4% male and 49.6% females. The largest age-section is Sungura Scouts (6-11 years) at 1.62 million, followed by Chipukizi Scouts (12-14 years) at 1.1 million, Mwamba Scouts (15-18 years) at 1 million and Jasiri Scouts (18-26 years) at just over 500,000 members. Across all age sections, the males were more than females except among Sungura Scouts. 

Of the 47 counties, the capital Nairobi ranks first with 458,304 Scouts followed by Makueni with 183,840, Meru with 181,488, Kiambu with 153,216 and Turkana with 147,040 Scouts. The counties with the lowest membership are Isiolo with 14,644, Lamu with 13,568, Marsabit with 10,160, Mandera with 5,312 and lastly Wajir with 2,400 Scouts.

Speaking while releasing the results on 11 July 2024, the Chief Commissioner Victor Radido thanked the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education Dr Belio Kipsang, County Directors of Education, school principals and headteachers, Scout leadership at national, county and sub county levels as well and the Association’s secretariat for supporting the massive country-wide census exercise.

This growth takes Kenya Scouts Association back to the top as Africa’s largest National Scout Organization after temporarily being overtaken by The Scouts Association of Nigeria who recoded 3.3 million members last year. 

The Association, established by an act of parliament, CAP 19 of the Laws of Kenya, as an educational non-political youth organization, prides itself in offering value-based educational youth programmes in areas such as life skills, leadership, environmental conservation, mental and reproductive health, peace and anti-radicalization, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, technology and online safety, advocacy and active citizenship among others. 

With this boom in membership, KSA is well positioned to continue being a leading voice and key player in the development of Kenya’s young people.

More information can be found in the Census Report 2024 below that contains County profiles with full data sets disaggregated by age sections and gender as well as details of programmatic interventions being undertaken by the Association in each county. 

Growth in Scouting means having greater impact and increasing our membership so that more people can become active citizens creating a better world for all. The WOSM Sevice on Growth sets National Scout Organizations for success by supporting the development and understanding of a growth strategy, evaluating their growth potential, establishing a mindset and preparing the groundwork for growth. NSOs can request this support on the WOSM Services platform.