Kakamega

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Kakamega
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Kakamega
Location in Kenya
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Kakamega
Kakamega (Africa)
Coordinates: 0°16′56″N34°45′14″E / 0.28215°N 34.75400°E / 0.28215; 34.75400
Country Kenya
County Kakamega County
Elevation
1,535 m (5,036 ft)
Population
 (2019 census)
107,227
Time zone UTC+3 (EAT)

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 (2019 census). [1] The town has an urban population of 107,227 (2019 census). [2]

Contents

Kakamega is 52 km north of Kisumu, and considered the heart of Luhya land. The average elevation of Kakamega is 1,535 metres.

The county has 12 constituencies in total, namely Butere, Mumias East, Mumias West, Matungu, Khwisero, Shinyalu, Lurambi, ikolomani, Lugari, Malava, Navakholo and Likuyani.

Naming

Kakamega was so named because the word "kakamega" translates roughly to "pinch" in Luhya, a tribe occupying the region, which was used to describe how European colonists would eat the staple food, ugali.

It is often told that Kakamega derives its modern name from the local dialect. The story goes that when European settlers first visited the area now known as Kakamega and were offered maize meal, the local staple food called Obusuma, and they tried to emulate the eating style for which the tribe was famous. To the hosts though, the visitors were more like ‘pinching’ the Obusuma. The resulting administrative area was named "Kakamega", which roughly translates to ‘pinch.’ Actually the name is from the former Nandi people who inhabited the area prior to the Luhya. There is a tale that the town was originally inhabited by the Nandi, and when the building started swelling, the Nandi called the area “Kokomego” which loosely translate into "there are many buildings", in the Nandi dialect. The new inhabitants took the name and coined it into Kakamega. [3]

Economics

Crying Stone of Ilesi CryingStone.jpg
Crying Stone of Ilesi

The local inhabitants are mostly the Luhya tribe, whose economic activity is mainly cash and food crop farming.

Kakamega serves as the headquarters of Mumias Sugar, previously Kenya's largest sugar processing company located in the town of Mumias. [4]

It was the scene of the Kakamega gold rush in the early 1930s, fueled partly by the reports of the geologist Albert Ernest Kitson. [5]

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology is a new institution of higher learning created by an act of parliament in December 2006 which is in the heart of Kakamega town, along the Kakamega-Webuye road. It is expected to spur growth in this capital of Western Province.

Kakamega Forest is the main tourist destination in the area. Another attraction used to be the Crying Stone of Ilesi (Ikhongo Murwi) located along the Kisumu-Kakamega highway. It is a 40-metre high rock dome resembling a human figure whose "eyes" used to drop water. There is a myth about this rock with natives who believe that it is an image of a jilted woman who is crying due to being forced out of her matrimonial home and denied access to her children. A hearsay in earlier years goes that the Isukha sub-tribe had wars with Nandi warriors and in most cases they defeated them. The Nandis believed they were defeated by Isukhas due to some superpowers the rock had. The Nandis tried to pull the rock down but they failed and instead, they lost more than 100 of their warriors in the battlefield. Currently, the tourist attraction site is shaded from the roadside view by planted eucalyptus trees which have used up the rock's water and subsequently caused the "Crying Stone" to dry up. [6] This effect is due to the climate change that is being experienced globally. The area used to receive heavy rainfalls in the 1990s and before.

Administration

In 2013, Wycliffe Oparanya was elected as the first Governor of Kakamega County, and retained the seat in the 2017 general elections. In 2022, when the general elections were held, Fernandes Barasa was elected the new governor. [7] Kakamega forms a municipality with ten wards (Amalemba, Bukhulunya, Central, Mahiakalo, Maraba, Matende, Milimani, Musaa, Shibiriri and Sichilayi). All of them belong to Lurambi Constituency, which has a total of fifteen wards. The remaining five are located within Kakamega municipal Council, the rural council of Kakamega District. [8]

Rainforest

Kakamega area receives a very high amount of annual precipitation and contains Kakamega Forest, a preserve which is a remnant of a rainforest that stretched west through Uganda.

As a rainforest, the canopy of the trees has grown into a thin mesh of interlocking top branches that block most sunlight from reaching the ground below, resulting in little undergrowth. With few bushes along the darkened forest floor, the main obstacle is ancient fallen tree trunks blocking the paths between the standing trees. The German-funded project BIOTA East has been working in the forest since 2001, whereby forest inventories for all sorts of life forms were performed with aim to find strategies for a sustainable use of the forest.

More than 400 species of birds have been found in the Kakamega rainforest. The many song birds fill the air with various birdcalls. [9]

Kakamega is also home to Africa's largest and most aggressive cobra, the Kakamega forest cobra. Reputed by locals to spend much time in the trees, stories abound of fearsome attacks on unsuspecting passersby. Other snakes in the area include the forest adder, black mamba, and the green mamba.

Education

Tertiary Education

Kakamega is home to Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, located along Kakamega - Webuye road. This campus offers courses in Engineering, Computer Science, Education, Disaster Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, Science, Nursing, Criminology subjects. The Shamberere Technical Training Institute is also local.

Primary and Secondary education

Majority of primary and secondary schools in Kakamega are government owned. Kakamega primary is the major primary school and is located in the town's CBD. Private schools renowned nationally located in the town include: Kakamega Hill School and St Joseph primary school.

The town also hosts one national secondary school, Kakamega High School and many other secondary schools.

Library services

The town hosts one library set up by the Kenya National Library Service.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luhya people</span> Number of ethnic groups in Kenya

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 Kavirondo, multiple small tribes in North Nyanza came together under the new name Baluhya between 1950 and 1960. The Bukusu are the largest Luhya subtribe and account for almost 30% of the entire Luhya population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bukusu</span> Tribe living in Kenya

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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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tachoni</span> Ethnic group of western Kenya

The Tachoni is one of the tribes that occupy Kakamega County in the western part of 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 to put the entire region occupied by the Tachoni under administration of paramount chiefs drawn from Bunyala and Wanga communities. The Tachoni share 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 which is a hybrid of the luhyia language of the luhyia people. Since they lost their original dialect during the divide and rule system used by the whites to scatter them for being resistant to their colonialism, they had to find a way to interact with their new neighbors and thats why they're subsequently mistaken as Bukusus. They spread from Kakamega county to Trans-Nzoia County, webuye especially around Kitale, Tambach in Iten Nandi in areas like kabiyet and kapsisiwa, kericho 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'.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiriki</span> Clan in Western Kenya

Tiriki Clan

The Kabras, or Kabarasi, are a subtribe of the Luhya people of Kenya. They reside in Malava 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kisa tribe</span> Tribe in 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 Nandi Escarpment is an escarpment in Nandi County, Kenya. It marks the boundary between Kisumu and Nandi counties. It consists of numerous massive geological rocks ,one being Nandi rock. Monkeys and baboons are among common wildlife sightings.

References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Kakamega (Kakamega, Western Kenya, Kenya) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  3. MORRIS KIRUGA. Daily Nation. How local dialects influenced naming of west Kenya towns. 23 July 2013
  4. Mumias Sugar Kenya
  5. Priscilla M. Shilaro, 'A Failed Eldorado: British Trusteeship, Luyia Land Rights and the Kakamega Gold Rush, 1930-1952', PHD (History), University of West Virginia, 2000, pp 154-6 & 180-186; see also: H. W. Tilman and Jim Perrin, H. W. Tilman: The Seven Mountain-Travel Books, 2004, p 71.
  6. The Standard, 22 February 2009: Sacred crying stone that brings blessing
  7. "The Governor County Government of Kakamega – County Government of Kakamega" . Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  8. Electoral Commission of Kenya: Registration centres by electoral area and constituency Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "KAKAMEGA FOREST NATIONAL RESERVE | Canopy of Natural Beauty". www.kws.go.ke.

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