Litein is a town located in the Kericho County, Kenya. It was previously the capital of the former Buret District. Litein has an urban population of 4,000. [1] The town is along the Kericho-Sotik road. It also has a road link to Bomet.
Litein's name originated from the word "liteito" - a stone used for sharpening iron objects during the pre-colonial period.
It is one of the busiest town in South Rift region and is surrounded by other towns like Kapkatet (which is known as the Kipsigis headquarters) Koiwa, Boito, Mogogosiek, Kusumek, Chemosot and Cheborge shopping centres. It is situated about 32 km from Kericho town, along Kericho-Sotik-Kisii highway.
The inhabitants are the Kipsigis - sub ethnic group of the larger Kalenjin community.
The main economic activity in the area is farming of Tea and Maize together with livestock.
KCB, Equity, Family, co-orperative and Bureti tea sacco are the major financial institutions found here. Litein Tea Factory is 300m from Litein town. Litein's weather is good to farmers thus encouraging farming. .
AIC Litein Mission Hospital is also located here - Litein town - a five-minute walk from the town center
Churches around Litein are the Catholic church, Liberty Gospel Church, and the Africa Inland church, among others. It also has a small Mosque situated in its town center. Litein town has a serene environment suitable for learning. This is evidenced by various schools and colleges in the town. Primary schools in Litein town include Litein Primary (which is a public school), Chemitan, St. Mark, and Sally Ann, among other private schools. High schools in Litein town include Litein Boys, Litein AIC Girls Litein East and a new Brilliance Mixed Day secondary school. Litein town also has numerous colleges which include Valley and KSPS, among others.
Hotels in Litein include Evening Star Litein, Sebuleni, Patnas, Classic offering accommodation and food services.
The Kipsigis or Kipsigiis are a Nilotic tribe in Kenya. They are contingent of the Kalenjin ethnic group and speak Kipsigis language, a tonal language which is closely related to a group of languages collectively known as Kalenjin language. It is observed that the Kipsigis and an aboriginal people native to Kenya known as Ogiek have a merged identity. The Kipsigis are the most numerous of the Kalenjin. The latest census population in Kenya put the Kipsigis at 1.972 Million speakers, accounting for 45% of all Kalenjin speaking people. They occupy the highlands of Kericho stretching from Timboroa to Mara River in the south, the west of Mau Escarpment in the east to Kebeneti in the west. They also occupy parts of Laikipia, Kitale, Nakuru, Narok, Trans Mara District, Eldoret and Nandi Hills.
The Abagusii are a highly diverse East African ethnic group and nation indigenous to Kisii and Nyamira counties of former Nyanza, as well as parts of Kericho and Bomet counties of the former Rift Valley province of Kenya. The Abagusii are unrelated to the Kisi people of Malawi and the Kissi people of West Africa, other than the three communities having similar sounding names.
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.
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in particular, the large scale cultivation of tea.
Bungoma County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. Its capital is Bungoma town. It has a population of 1,670,570 of which 812,146 are males 858,389 females as per the 2019 census and an area of 2,069 km2. It has nine constituencies, namely: Bumula, Kabuchai, Kanduyi, Kimilili, Mt. Elgon, Sirisia, Tongaren, Webuye East and Webuye West.
Kericho County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The county seats between longitude 35°02' and 35°40' East and between the equator and latitude 0°23' South with an altitude of about 2002m above the sea level. It borders Uasin Gishu County to the North West, Baringo County to the North, Nandi County to the North-West, Nakuru County to the East and Bomet County to the South. It has a population of 901,777 and an area of 2,111 km². Its capital and largest town is Kericho.
Bomet is the capital and largest town of Bomet County, Kenya. Bomet town has a total population of 110,963. It is located along the B3 Mai Mahiu-Narok-Kisii road. Bomet city is one of the eight sister cities to Milwaukee.
Changach is a village in the Keiyo District, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. It was formerly in the Rift Valley Province. According to the 2019 census it has a population of 1384 living in 301 households.
Kerugoya is the biggest town in Kirinyaga County. Kerugoya is located 10 kilometres east of Karatina and 40 kilometres west of Embu. It is situated in the former District of Kirinyaga. Travel directions by road from Nairobi, is through Thika road past Thika, Kenol and Makuyu. The road leads through Makutano until Sagana town, where a road branches off the East towards Kagio town up to Kirinyaga University branching North towards the town.
Zakayo Cheruiyot is a Kenyan politician who was born in 1954 at Kapsogut village in Bureti Constituency, Kericho County. His father, Arap Komuilong, was an Assistant Chief to Arap Tengecha, the Chief, during the colonial period. Cheruiyot attended Kapsogut Primary School prior to joining Litein High School and later Chesamis High School for his A-level education. The revered administrator holds a bachelor's degree in Literature and Governance from the University of Nairobi and a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies from Birmingham University in the UK. He is widely trained in public administration and has undergone major short courses on administration and management at the Kenya School of Government.
Fort Ternan is a small town in Kericho County, Kenya, located 50 kilometres east of Kisumu and five kilometres east of Koru. It is named after Col. Trevor Ternan C.M.G.D.S.O. Fort Ternan is located at the western border of the former Rift Valley Province. Fort Ternan forms a ward of Kipkelion West Constituency and Kipsigis town council. Fort Ternan is also a location in the Chilchila division.
Dr. Elisha Kipyegon Taaitta Arap Toweett, also known as Taaitta Arap Toweett, was a scholar, writer, linguist and a Kenyan politician.
Sotik Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya established for the 1997 elections. It is one of five constituencies in Bomet County. Sotik has one major river, River Kipsonoi. Sotik is also a hilly place with the main crops being grown are tea and maize. The Nairobi Kisii highway passes through Sotik. Recently, many developments have occurred; Sotik Market was put up by the former governor Hon Isaac Ruto, since then infrastructure has been improving. Sotik is also a religious center with over 10 churches set up in the area, e.g., Bethel AGC, St Joseph's Sotik catholic church and Gustavo D' Kerich chapel.
The University of Kabianga is located in Kabianga Division in Kericho West District. The university is situated in the Kabianga Complex, comprising the then Kabianga Famers Training Center, Kabianga High School and Primary School and the Kipsigis County Council Tea Farm. The Kabianga Complex has a long history.
Kenya Highlands University is fully-fledged (Chartered) private institution of higher learning. It is located in Kericho in Kenya.
Imarisha Cooperative Savings & Credit Society Limited, also known as Imarisha Sacco Limited, but often referred to as Imarisha Sacco, is a savings and credit co-operative society (Sacco) in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community.
The Lumbwa Treaty event took place on 13th October 1889, in Lumbwa in Kericho between the Kipsigis led by Menya Araap Kisiara and the British East Africa administration. It was based on a cultural practice of oath taking in Kipsigis called Mummek or Mummiat or Mumma. Mumma means "to do something impossibly disgusting". It involves two parties taking an oath and invoking a preemptive curse if the oath is to be broken by any party taking the oath. There usually would also be a performance of black magic; and on this particular event a coyote was savored in two halves with each party burying its part and making the oath never to harm each other in any way.
Amos Kipng'eno Misik is a retired Kenya Prisons Commander.
In June 1905, between 900 and 1850 ethnic Kipsigis men, women and children were killed in a punitive expedition dubbed Sotik expedition by the colonial British government forces led by Major Pope Hennessy. This was as a result of a raid by the Kipsigis on the Maasai which saw the Kipsigis part with Maasai cows, women and children to which the government demanded redress and return of the spoils of the raid but to which the Kipsigis returned in insults and turned down the warning. In effect, this led to alienation of tribal land to what would become part of Kenyan White Highlands.
Sotik town is an urban centre situated in Sotik Sub-county within Bomet County in the Western region of Kenya and managed by Sotik Town Council. Initially, it was the home of Mugenik Barngetuny Araap Sitonik, a prominent Kipsigis prophet of the late 19th century. Sotik is a metropolitan town with a majority of the residents from the Kipsigis ethnicity and a minority being from other ethnicities from Kenya including notably, Somalis and Indians. The town is home to Kalenjin music artist Philip Yegon, Kenyan athletes: Paul Kipsiele Koech and Mercy Cherono; and Kenyan politicians: Lorna Laboso and the late Joyce Cherono Laboso.