Laikipia County

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Laikipia County
Flag of Laikipia County.png
Coat of Arms of Laikipia County.png
Laikipia County in Kenya.svg
Location in Kenya
CountryFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
Formed4 March 2013
Capital Rumuruti
Government
   Governor Joshua Irungu
Area
  Total8,696.1 km2 (3,357.6 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)
  Total518,560 [1]
Time zone UTC+3 (EAT)
Website laikipia.go.ke

Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki to the southeast, and Nyahururu to the southwest. Its County government headquarters town is Rumuruti. [2] The County lies between latitudes 0° 18" South and 0° 51" North and between longitudes 36° 11" and 37° 24' East. It borders Samburu County to the North, Isiolo County to the North East, Meru County to the East, Nyeri County to the South East, Nyandarua County to the South, Nakuru County to the South West and Baringo County to the West. [3]

Contents

Economic activities in the county consist mainly of tourism and agriculture, chiefly grain crops, ranching and greenhouse horticulture.

The county encompasses the high, dry Laikipia Plateau, and has a cool, temperate climate with both rainy and dry seasons. [4]

Demographics

Laikipia county has a total population of 518,560 of which 259,440 are males, 259,102 females and 18 intersex persons. There are 149,271 household with an average household size of 3.4 persons per household and a population density 54 people per square kilometre. [5]

Religion

Religion in Laikipia County [6]

Religion (2019 Census)Number
Catholicism 147,752
Protestant 152,699
Evangelical Churches 108,701
African instituted Churches 35,236
Orthodox 1,648
Other Cristian 27,854
Islam 8,475
Hindu 205
Traditionists7,127
Other7,238
No ReligionAtheists 15,695
Don't Know1,221
Not Stated28

Administrative and political units

Administrative units

There are five sub counties, fifteen county assembly wards, fifty two locations. [7]

Sub-Counties

  • Laikipia Central
  • Laikipia East
  • Laikipia North
  • Laikipia West
  • Nyahururu
  • Kirima (newly created)

Source [8]

Electoral constituencies

Source [9]

Political leadership

Joshua Irungu is the current governor, serving his second and final term as governor. He returned after governor Ndiritu Muriithi had defeated him in the 2017 general elections Joshua Irungu, [10] [11] He is deputised by Reuben Kamuri, the current Deputy Governor, after Joshua Irungu did not run a second time with his previous deputy governor Gitonga Kabugi. John Kinyua Nderitu is the senator. He has been in office since 2017, replacing the first senator Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki. [12] [13] Jane Kagiri was elected women representative for the county in 2022. For Laikipia County, the County Executive Committee comprises:-

County Executive Committee
Number
The Governor1
The Deputy Governor1
The County Secretary1
The CEC Members6
Total9

Source [14]

Members of Parliament 2022-2027 (Laikipia County)

Education

There are 600 ECD centres 304 primary schools and 99 secondary schools. The county has also 4 teachers training colleges, 9 Youth Polytechnics, 94 adult training institutions and 2 universities. [17] [18]

Health

There are a total of 100 health facilities in the county with one county referral hospital. County has 883 health personnel of different cadre. [19] The HIV prevalence rate stands at 3.2 per cent. [20]

Transport and communication

The county is covered by 1112.2 km of road network. of this 77.0 km is covered by earth surface, 705.5 km is murram surface and 319.7 km is covered by bitumen. [21] [22]

There are 19 Post Offices with 2,299 installed letter boxes, 2,079 rented letter boxes and 220 vacant letter boxes. [8]

Administrative divisions

Urban Areas
AuthorityTypePopulation*
Nanyuki Municipality56,421
Nyahururu Municipality58,943
Rumuruti Town37,810
Kinamba County2,658
Total-155,832
* Laikipia CIDP 2015 projections. Source:
Administrative divisions
DivisionPopulation*Urban pop.*Headquarters
Central77,47828,489 Nanyuki
Lamuria38,5170Lamuria
Mukogondo13,176624Dol Dol
Ngarua65,5452,813Kinamba
Nyahururu37,41222,459 Nyahururu
Olmoran11,0690
Rumuruti78,8944,061Rumuruti
Total322,18758,466-
* 1999 census. Sources: , ,

The county has three constituencies:

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1979 134,524    
1989 218,957+62.8%
1999 322,187+47.1%
2009 399,227+23.9%
2019 518,560+29.9%
source: [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Rumuruti is a town in Laikipia County in Kenya's former Rift Valley Province. It is approximately 40 kilometers due north of Nyahururu, on the Nyahururu-Maralal road (A4). Despite being smaller than either Nanyuki or Nyahururu, which are on the Southeastern and Southwestern corners of Laikipia respectively, its central location meant that it was selected as the administrative headquarters of the new County government in 2013. In 2013 a local business launched a plan to build a 200 million Kenya shilling meat processing facility in the town.

Local elections were held in Laikipia County on 4 March 2013. Under the new constitution, which was passed in a 2010 referendum, the 2013 general election was to be the first where there would be election of county governors and their deputies for the 47 newly created counties. They were also the first general elections run by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) which released the official list of candidates.

Joshua Wakahora Irungu is a Kenyan politician and community development specialist. He was appointed to the position of Chairperson of Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) in Feb 2019. He is the first and third governor of the County of Laikipia first serving from 2013 to 2017, representing the Jubilee Coalition party TNA and securing a return running on a UDA ticket in 2022.

John Nderitu is a Kenyan politician. He is the current senator for Laikipia County.

References

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  23. KENYA: Administrative Division population statistics

0°5′N36°40′E / 0.083°N 36.667°E / 0.083; 36.667