Bungoma is the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

Bungoma County 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 constitu ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. It was established as a trading centre in the early 20th century.

Naming

Bungoma, was named from eng'oma—the

Bukusu The Bukusu people ( Bukusu: ''Babukusu'') are one of the seventeen Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are closely related to other Luhya people and the Gisu ...

word for drums. The town was originally a meeting place for

elders. The sound of drums would emanate from the area as the meeting venue, leading to its eventual naming as Bungoma. There is a second version of the story. It says that in the early days, the area was occupied by the Bungomek, a clan of the Sabaot. The Bungomek was later driven out by the Bukusu, but the name Bungoma, in reference to their occupation, remained.

Economy

Farming is the main economic activity in the county. Bungoma county is sugar county, with one of the country's largest sugar factories, as well as numerous small-holder sugar mills.

Maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

is also grown for subsistence, alongside

pearl millet Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum''; also known as 'Bajra' in Hindi, 'Sajje' in Kannada, 'Kambu' in Tamil, 'Bajeer' in Kumaoni and 'Maiwa' in Hausa, 'Mexoeira' in Mozambique) is the most w ...

and

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

Dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

is widely practised, as well as the raising of

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

. There is a small but important tourist circuit, centering on the biennial circumcision ceremonies that are mostly practiced by Bukusu, Tachoni and Sabaot.

Overview

The major economic activity in the area is sugarcane farming. This is because more than 67000 farmers directly depend on Nzoia Sugar Company Ltd. Early businesses were supported by the

Kenya-Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

which passes through the town. The collapse of Webuye paper mills and the struggling of nzoia sugar company has led to an economic nightmare in the county. Malakisi Ginnery that solely depended of cotton farming in Bungoma County and neighboring counties like Busia has struggled ages to start on its feet because of inadequate cotton supplies and few people have embraced cotton farming. Within Malikisi town, British America Tobacco (BAT) also had a well established leaf buying also contributed and supported the inhabitants of part of Bungoma County that initially had embraced Tobacco farming. Most of the people previously employed there have looked for other jobs while some have totally relocated to other counties. Major tertiary educational institutions include the Sang'alo Institute of Science and Technology, Mabanga Farmer's training center, SACRED Training Institute, Kibabii University and The Friends School kamusinga. The Governor of Bungoma is

Wycliffe Wangamati Wycliffe Wafula Wangamati is a Kenyan national and politician who served as the 2nd Governor of Bungoma on a Ford Kenya ticket. Wangamati came to power after defeating Kenneth Lusaka in the 2017 election. In August 9th, 2022 election, he was agai ...

who was elected in the 2017 election, preceded by Ken Lusaka after the 2013 Elections who is the current speaker of the Senate. Kenneth Makelo Lusaka would later defeat Governor

in the August 2022 General Elections to reclaim the seat of Governor. Previously the mayor of Bungoma town was Barasa Mbinga of Ford-Kenya, who beat the previous mayor Majimbo Okumu of ODM in the 2009 mayoral election, voted by the Bungoma councilors.The Standard, July 3, 2009
ODM loses Bungoma mayoral seat to Ford-Kenya
/ref> The senator of Bungoma is Hon. Moses M. Wetangula.

References

External links

Some local Bungoma history

Bungoma County

Stiedu

Mukhwana
{{Coord, 00, 34, N, 34, 34, E, region:KE_type:city, display=title Populated places in Bungoma County County capitals in Kenya

Naming

Economy

Overview

See also

References

External links