Vihiga | |
|---|---|
  Vihiga Location of Vihiga | |
| Coordinates: 00°03′00″N34°43′30″E / 0.05000°N 34.72500°E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| County | Vihiga County |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 118,696 [1] |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Vihiga is a town in Kenya located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest.
The town is along the Kisumu-Kakamega highway and only five kilometres north of the equator. Vihiga bears the same name as its county, Vihiga County. Vihiga municipality has a population of 118,696 [1] in 2009 census and 95,292 in 2019 census, a decrease of 23,404, 11%. [2]
Vihiga municipality has six wards; two of them (Central Maragoli and Wamuluma) belong to Vihiga Constituency while the remaining four wards (Chavakali, Izawa, Lyaduywa and North Maragoli) are part of the Sabatia Constituency. In the 2002 general elections, all six civic seats were won by the National Rainbow Coalition.
Maragoli are the dominant ethnic group in the area and the town is also known as Maragoli. Tiriki, Idakho and Banyore are other ethnic groups in this locale. As a county, Vihiga has its administrative headquarters in Mbale township, located within the Vihiga municipality. Vihiga is also a name of one of its divisions. Other divisions include Sabatia, Hamisi, Lwanda and Emuhaya. The people living in Vihiga primarily identify themselves as "Maragoli" and speak a language called Maragoli. This language is quite distinct from other Luhya ethnic groups and was the first Luhya language that was used to translate the Bible. The majority of the Maragoli people were primarily converted into the Quaker denomination of Christians, which is practiced to this day.
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 is the second largest tribe in Kenya closely after the Kikuyu tribe. The luhya tribe is native to western Kenya and Uganda. It is divided into 20 culturally and linguistically united clans. Tracing the origins and history of Abaluhya identity, they migrated to present Uganda and Kenya just like the Bantu people who migrated to different parts of Africa from their ancestral home in DRC
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.
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.
Homa Bay is a town on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa and Ruma National Park, the latter noted for Jackson's hartebeests and roan antelope.
Kapenguria is a town in Kenya. It is the capital and largest urban center of West Pokot County. The town lies north east of Kitale on the A1 road in Kenya. Kapenguria forms a municipality with a population of 40,751 as per the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census.
Siaya County is one of the counties in the former Nyanza Province in the Western part of Kenya. It is bordered by Busia County to the north, Kakamega County and Vihiga County's to the northeast and Kisumu County to the southeast. It shares a water border with Homa Bay County which is located south of Siaya County. The total area of the county is approximately 2,496.1 km2. The county lies between latitude 0° 26' to 0° 18' north and longitude 33° 58' east and 34° 33' west. Siaya has been split up into six new districts. Under the Constitution 2010, the role of districts are still unclear as much of administrative authority is being transferred to the county. The capital is Siaya, even though the largest town is Bondo.
Kapsabet is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nandi County and is located 40 kilometres southwest of Eldoret on the way to Chavakali.
Vihiga County is an administrative region in the former Western Province of Kenya whose headquarters are in Mbale, the largest town in the county. The county has a population of 554,622 and an area of 563 km2. Formally a district, Vihiga was split from Kakamega District in 1990. In 2019's census, Vihiga was found to have a population of 590, 013, an increase of 35, 391 from the 2009's count.
Sabatia Constituency is an electoral constituency in Western Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Vihiga County. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections. It has a population of 131,628.
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.
Mbale is a town in Kenya. It is the capital and largest town of Vihiga County. It is also called Maragoli, after the indigenous inhabitants of the area.
Held in Mbale town every 26 December, the Maragoli Cultural Festival was for a long time, in decades gone by, the biggest event of the year in the region - coming a day after Christmas: probably the biggest holiday in Kenya; and frequently attended by the former president Daniel Arap Moi.
Luanda is a market town in the Vihiga County of Kenya, located along the Kisumu-Busia highway. It was one of the administrative divisions in Emuhaya district between 2007 and 2009. Luanda has grown over the past ten years with several banks, and supermarkets establishing within the locality. Luanda serves as the main town for Emuhaya and Luanda subcounties. The predominant tribe in Luanda are the Banyore people.
Tiriki or Hamisi is home to the Tiriki subtribe of the Abaluyia. Hamisi Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Vihiga County. Hamisi Constituency includes seven electoral wards: Shiru Ward, Gisambai Ward, Shamakhokho Ward, Banja Ward, Muhudu Ward, Tambua ward, and Jepkoyai Ward. It has a population of 159,241 people.
Bunyore is a locality in the Vihiga County in the western province of Kenya. It is largely inhabited by Luhya, who speak the OLunyole dialect of the Luhya language. In the local language, the place is known as Ebunyore and its people as the Abanyore. It is divided into eight locations namely Central Bunyore, West Bunyore, South Bunyore, South-West Bunyore, East Bunyore, North Bunyore, North East Bunyore, and Wekhomo. Prior to 1990, Bunyore was under Kakamega District, divided into East and West Bunyore locations. As population increased, the former West Bunyore was split into Central, West, South and South West locations while the former East Bunyore was split into North, North East, Wekhomo and East Bunyore locations in order to better serve the people.
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.
Idakho, Isukha, and Tiriki are mutually intelligible Kenyan languages within the Luhya ethnic group. They are a set of languages closely related to some other Luhya ethnic groups like Maragoli, but less so in comparison to others, like Bukusu,Tachoni or Samia,
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