Trans-Nzoia County is a county in the former Rift Valley Province, Kenya, located between the Nzoia River and Mount Elgon, 380 km northwest of Nairobi. At its centre is the town of Kitale which is the capital and largest town. The county borders Bungoma to the west, Uasin Gishu and Kakamega to the south, Elgeyo-Marakwet to the east, West Pokot to the north and the republic of Uganda to the Northwest. Trans Nzoia covers an area of 2495.5 square kilometres.
Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579.
The Luhya are a bantu people and the second largest ethnic group in Kenya. The Luhya belong to the larger linguistic stock known as the Bantu. The Luhya are located in western Kenya and Uganda. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically united clans. Once known as the Bantu Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960.
The Bukusu people are one of the 17 Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, with 1,188,963 identifying as Bukusu in the 2019 Kenyan census. They speak the Bukusu dialect.
Western Province was one of Kenya's seven administrative provinces outside Nairobi. It is inhabited mainly by the Luhya people. Quakerism is widely practised here. Kenya's second highest mountain, Mount Elgon is located in Bungoma District. The Kakamega Forest rainforest is part of the area. The province capital was Kakamega. After the 2013 general election, and the coming into effect of the new constitution, provinces became defunct and the country was now divided into 47 counties. Each county has its own government and therefore there is no central regional capital. Western Province became the Western region, comprising four counties: Kakamega, Bungoma, Vihiga, and Busia.
Bukusu is a dialect of the Masaba language spoken by the Bukusu tribe of the Luhya people of western Kenya. It is one of several ethnically Luhya dialects; however, it is more closely related to the Gisu dialect of Masaaba in eastern Uganda than it is to other languages spoken by the Luhya.
Vihiga is a town in Kenya located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest.
Busia is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It borders Kakamega County to the east, Bungoma County to the north, Lake Victoria and Siaya County to the south and Busia District, Uganda to the west. The county has about 893,861 people and spans about 1,700 square kilometers making it one of the smallest counties in Kenya. Busia is inhabited by the Luhya tribe of Kenya and the Teso of Kenya, and small groups of the Luo. The Luhya communities include the Abakhayo, Marachi, Samia and Abanyala communities.
Kisumu County is one of 47 counties in the Republic of Kenya. Its borders follow those of the original Kisumu District, one of the former administrative districts of the former Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Its headquarters is Kisumu City which is the third largest city in Kenya after the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa. It has a population of 1,155,574. The land area of Kisumu County totals 2085.9 km2.
Kakamega County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya and borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties to the North and Nandi and Uasin Gishu counties to the East. Its capital and largest town is Kakamega. It has a population of 1,867,579 and an area of 3,033.8 km2.
Mumias is a town in Kakamega County of Kenya. The town has an urban population of 116,358 and is the second largest town in Kakamega County. Mumias was the centre of the Mumias District. The town is linked by road to Kakamega, Busia (west), Bungoma (north), Butere, Luanda, Maseno and Kisumu (south). Two major rivers, River Nzoia and River Lusumu pass close to the town.
The Maragoli, or Logoli (Ava-Logooli), are now the second-largest ethnic group of the 6 million-strong Luhya nation in Kenya, numbering around 2.1 million, or 15% of the Luhya people according to the last Kenyan census. Their language is called Logoli, Lulogooli, Ululogooli, or Maragoli. The name Maragoli probably emerged later on after interaction of the people with missionaries of the Quaker Church.
Burundu is a rural village in Kakamega County of the former Western Province in Kenya.
The Tachoni is one of the 17 sub-tribes that form the Luhya people of western Kenya, known for its gallant defense of the Chetambe in 1895 when resisting British rule. Tachoni people were masters at building forts such as Chetambe, Lumboka, and Kiliboti. It was their defiance of colonialism that led to the colonial government putting the entire region occupied by the Tachoni under administration of paramount chiefs drawn from Bunyala and Wanga communities. haring the land with the Abanyala, the Kabras, Nandi, and Bukusu tribe. They live mainly in Webuye, Chetambe Hills, Ndivisi Matete sub-county-Lwandeti, Maturu, Mayoyo, Lukhokho, Kiliboti, Kivaywa, Chepsai, and Lugari sub-county in Kakamega County. Most Tachoni clans living in Bungoma speak the ' Olutachoni dialect of the Luhya language, and they are subsequently often mistaken as Bukusus. They spread to Trans-Nzoia County especially around Kitale, and to Uasin Gishu County near Turbo, Eldoret. Among the Tachoni clans are Abachikha -further divided into Abakobolo, Abamuongo, Abachambai,Abamakhanga, Abacharia, and Abakabini, Abamarakalu, Abangachi -who are further divided into: Abawaila, Abakhumaya and Abawele, Abasang'alo, Abasamo, Abayumbu, Abaluu, Abarefu,Abanyangali, Abamuchembi, Abamakhuli, Abasioya, Abaabichu,Abacheo, Abamachina,Abaengele, Abamutama, Abakafusi, Abasonge, Abasaniaka, Abaabiya also known as Abakatumi, Abakubwayi,Abakamutebi, Abakamukong, Abamweya, Abalukulu,Abawande, Abatukiika, Abachimuluku. Note that the morpheme 'aba' means 'people'. The Abakhusia/abasamo of Kabras are also Tachonis who speak Kikabras. Abayumbu and Abaluu are twin brothers, hence do not intermmary.
Tiriki is one of sixteen clans and dialects of the Abaluyia people of Western Kenya. The word Tiriki is also used to refer to their Geographical Location in Hamisi Division, Vihiga County, in the Western province of Kenya. Hamisi Constituency now Hamisi Sub County is one of the longest in Kenya stretching from kiboswa(Ny'angori) to Shiru which borders Kapsabet and Musunji which borders Kakamega Forest. Some also moved to nandi county and occupied aldai and other parts of nandi county.
The Kabras, or Kabarasi, are a subtribe of the Luhya people of Kenya. They reside in Malava that is in the Kabras Division of Kakamega District, which is neighboured by the Isukha, Banyala, Tsotso, and the Tachoni. The exact origin of the Luhya people is currently disputed, but there are historians who believe that the group came from Bethlehem and migrated to their present-day location by way of the so-called Great Bantu Migration.
The Khayo is a sub tribe of the Luhya people of Kenya. They reside in Busia County, by the Kenya-Uganda border. Their Luhya neighbors are the Samia, Marachi, Wanga and Bukusu. The Bakhayo border the Bukusu on the East, the Republic of Uganda and Samias on the West, the Marachi on the South and the Wanga on the South East. On their north, they are bordered by the Iteso, a non-Luhya Nilotic people of Kenya.
The Kisa, also known as Abakisa or Abashisa, are one of the sixteen tribes of the Luhya nation of Kenya. They occupy the Kisa area within the Khwisero division of Butere-Mumias district. The Kisa are sandwiched between the Marama of Butere, the Idakho of Kakamega and the Nyore of Vihiga district.
The Marama, also known as Abamarama, are a Luhya tribe occupying Marama Location in Kakamega District of the western province of Kenya. The town of Butere is located in west Marama and is a significant trading centre in Kakamega. They are said to have assimilated the Abashikunga sub tribe.
Samia speaking people live in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda. They are composed of several clans and their ancient economic activities include fishing in Lake Victoria and other rivers such as River Sio, crop farming (obulimi), and animal farming (obutuki). The Samia speaking people, as widely known by other tribes, predominantly live in Busia districts and speak a dialect similar to the Luhya tribe in Kenya. However, on the Ugandan side there is a slight variation in the dialect spoken by the Samia of Southern Busia on the fringe of Lake Victoria and those of North Busia district closer to Tororo District. The former speak Olusamia while the latter speak Olugwe. The two dialects are difficult to differentiate by non Samia speaking people but easily discernible by the natives. and in Uganda mainly found inbusia and Namayingo district.
