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Makueni County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Wote. It's the largest town in the county. Emali town which is an important market and stop over for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), is another major town in the county. It is multicultural and adds diversity to Makueni County. The county had a population of 987,653 in the 2019 census. The county lies between Latitude 1° 35' and 2° 59' South and Longitude 37° 10' and 38° 30' East. It borders Machakos County to the North, Kitui County to the East, Taita Taveta County to the South and Kajiado County to the West and covers an area of 8,008.9 km2.[2]
Makueni County | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
| Motto: Haven of Opportunities | |
 Location of Makueni County in Kenya | |
| Coordinates: 1°48′S 37°37′E | |
| Country |  Kenya |
| Formed | 4 March 2013 |
| Other towns | Makindu, Emali, Sultan Hamud, Mtito Andei, Kibwezi, Konza |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Mutula Kilonzo Junior |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,008.9 km2 (3,092.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2019)[1] | |
• Total | 987,653 |
| • Density | 120/km2 (320/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
| Website | makueni |
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The county has a number of prominent features in including volcanic Chyullu hills which lie along the South West border of the county Mbooni hills in Mbooni sub county and Kilungu and Iuani hills in Kaiti sub county, Makongo forest and scenic view, Makuli forest and Nzaui hill.[2]
The county experience semi-arid climatic conditions with an average temperature range between 15C – 26C and Annual rainfall ranges between 250mm to 400mm per annum on the lower regions of the county and the higher region receives rainfall ranging from 800mm to 900mm.[3]
The county has a total population of 987,653 of which 497,942 females and 20 intersex persons. There are 77,495 household with an average household size of 5.8 persons per household and a population density 6 people per square kilometre.[4]
Religion in Makueni County [5]
| Religion (2019 Census) | Number |
|---|---|
| Catholicism | 292,056 |
| Protestant | 479,698 |
| Evangelical Churches | 131,964 |
| African instituted Churches | 36,575 |
| Orthodox | 981 |
| Other Christian | 13,030 |
| Islam | 6,559 |
| Hindu | 57 |
| Traditionists | 892 |
| Other | 4,807 |
| No Religion Atheists | 8,817 |
| Don't Know | 1,478 |
| Not Stated | 101 |
Administrative units
There are 6 sub counties, 16 divisions, 63 locations and 127 sub-locations.[6]
Sub-counties
- Makueni
- Kilome
- Kibwezi East
- Kibwezi West (Makindu)
- Kathonzweni
- Mbooni west
- Mbooni East
Political units
It has 6 constituencies and 30 county assembly wards and 60 sub-wards.[7]
- Makueni constituency
- Mbooni constituency
- Kibwezi East constituency
- Kibwezi West constituency
- Kaiti constituency
- Kilome constituency
Political leadership
Kivutha Kibwana is the first and former Governor after being elected in 2013 and 2017 general elections.[8][9] Mutula Kilonzo Jnr is the current Governor and has been senator since 2013.[10][11] Rose Museo Mumo is the first elected women representative and was re-elected in 2017 general elections.[12][13]
For Makueni County, the County Executive Committee comprises:-[14]
| Number | |
|---|---|
| The Governor | 1 |
| The Deputy Governor | 1 |
| The County Secretary | 1 |
| The CEC Members | 10 |
| Total | 13 |
Members of parliament in Makueni County 2017–2022
- Hon. Jessica Nduku Kiko Mbalu[15] of Wiper democratic Movement Kenya Member of Parliament Kibwezi East.[16]
- Hon.Patrick Musimba[17] as Independent Candidate Member of Parliament Kibwezi West Constituency.[18]
- Hon.Daniel Kitonga Maanzo[19] of Wiper democratic Movement Kenya Member of Parliament Makueni Constituency.[20]
- Hon.Kimilu, Joshua Kivinda[21] of Wiper democratic Movement Kenya Member of Parliament Kaiti Constituency.[22]
- Hon.Nzambia, Thuddeus Kithua[23] of Wiper democratic Movement Kenya Member of Parliament Kilome Constituency.[23]
- Hon. Erastus Kivasu Nzyoka[24] of Wiper democratic Movement KenyaMember of Parliament Mbooni Constituency.[25]
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There are 78 ECD centres 997 primary schools and 375 secondary schools. The county has also 3 teachers training colleges, 37 Youth Polytechnics, 231 adult training institutions, 2 technical training institutions, 3 university campuses.[26]
There is a total of 156 health facilities, 726 hospital beds and 1261 cots in the county. County has 815 health personnel of different cadre.[27]
HIV prevalence rate is 5.1% in 2017.[28]
There is one air strip and 8 railway lines with total coverage of 140 km. The county is covered by 7670 km of road network. Of this 6,776 km is covered by earth surface, 706 km is murram surface and 188 km of surface is covered by Bitumen.[29][30]
There are twenty post office with 4,850 installed letter boxes, 3,302 rented letter boxes, 1,548 vacant letter boxes and 31 licences stamp vendors.[31]
There are 420 trading centres, 17,390 registered businesses, 153 banking services (including agents & insurance, 882 mobile service providers and 382 agro-vets, chemists& pharmacies.[32]
- South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) wote campus – The campus is located at Soi Plaza building, 2nd floor, above Equity Bank in Wote Town, the headquarters of Makueni County, and about 140 km from Kitui main campus. The campus began its operations in March, 2012. Currently, the campus has a student population of 315 who are taking classes in different regular, part-time and institutional-based programmes.
- Wote Technical Training Institute[33]
- Kenya Medical Training College KMTC Makueni Campus.
- Kenya Medical Training College KMTC Makindu Campus.
- Kenya Medical Training College KMTC Mbuvo Campus.
Since 2010, county has six constituencies:
| Authority | Type | Population* | Urban pop.* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wote | Town | 56,419 | 5,542 | |
| Mtito Andei | Town | 24,435 | 4,304 | |
| Makueni | County | 690,691 | 18,689 | |
| Total | - | 771,545 | 28,535 | |
| * 1999 census. Source:[34] | ||||
| Division | Population* | Urban pop.* | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaiti | 46,107 | 501 | Kilala |
| Kalawa | 14,039 | 0 | Kalawa |
| Kasikeu | 35,719 | 1,848 | Kasikeu |
| Kathonzweni | 65,738 | 0 | Kathonzweni |
| Kibwezi | 80,236 | 4,695 | Kibwezi |
| Kilome | 46,204 | 0 | Mukaa |
| Kilungu | 67,741 | 0 | Mukaa |
| Kisau | 50,510 | 1,905 | |
| Makindu | 50,299 | 2,482 | Makindu |
| Matiliku | 38,867 | 0 | Matiliku |
| Mbitini | 48,729 | 3,266 | Emali |
| Mbooni | 55,984 | 1,786 | Mbooni |
| Mtito Andei | 66,663 | 3,966 | Mtito Andei |
| Ilima | 32,717 | 0 | |
| Wote | 40,353 | 4,708 | Wote |
| Total | 771,545 | 25,157 | - |
| * 1999 census. Sources:[35][36] | |||
Urbanisation
| County | Urbanisation in South Eastern Kenya (Per cent) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machakos County | |||||||||
| Kitui County | |||||||||
| Makueni County | |||||||||
| Kenya Average |
|||||||||
|
Urbanisation by County in South Eastern Kenya | |||||||||
Source: OpenDataKenya
Wealth/Poverty Level
| County | Poverty Level in South Eastern Kenya (Per cent) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machakos County | |||||||||
| Kitui County | |||||||||
| Makueni County | |||||||||
| Kenya Average |
|||||||||
|
Poverty level by County | |||||||||
Source: OpenDataKenya Worldbank
- Mutula Kilonzo - former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
- Jeremiah Kianga - former Chief of General Staff of the Kenya Defence Forces
- Philip Waki - retired Judge and head of the 2008 Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence
- Philomena Mwilu - Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kenya
- Joseph Musyimi Lele Ndolo - first African Chief of General Staff of the Kenya Defence Forces
- Winfred Yavi - 3000 metres steeplechase winner in the 2023 World Athletics Championships and 2024 Olympics Champion
- Kivutha Kibwana - former Governor of Makueni County
- Kamoya Kimeu - Paleontologist and Curator
- Teresia Mbaika Malokwe - Environmentalist and Health Economist
- Peter Kiilu - former Member of Parliament for Makueni Constituency
- Nick Mwendwa - President of Football Kenya Federation
- Gideon Ndambuki - Kenyan politician
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