Bungoma County is a
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the former
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
* Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provin ...
of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
. 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 km
2. It has nine constituencies, namely:
Bumula,
Kabuchai,
Kanduyi,
Kimilili
Kimilili is a town and area in Kenya's Bungoma County. The area is occupied mainly by the Bukusu and few Teso communities it is a trading center for agricultural goods and services. The town has an urban population of 94,927.
The surrounding regi ...
,
Mt. Elgon,
Sirisia,
Tongaren,
Webuye East and
Webuye West.
The economy of Bungoma County is mainly agricultural, centering on the sugarcane and maize industries. The area experiences high rainfall throughout the year, and is home to several large rivers, which are used for small-scale irrigation.
People
The
Bukusu people
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 o ...
, who occupy much of the county, are resilient and flamboyant people who stood up against British rule in the late 19th century. In a war that erupted at Lumboka and eventually ended at Chetambe, near
Webuye
Webuye, previously named Broderick Falls, is an industrial town in Bungoma County, Kenya. Located on the main road to Uganda, the town is home to the Pan African Paper Mills, the largest paper factory in the region, as well as a number of heav ...
, the Bukusu bitterly resisted the British. They are farmers who practice both livestock and crop farming. And an early British traveler described them as such when he visited in 1876 "on the East of the Mountain, there are the Bukusu who are greater bandu befwe navasima.
The Bukusu have produced many prominent people that have served in the Kenyan public life; among them are H.E. Dr.
Mukhisa Kituyi
Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi (born October 20, 1956) is a Kenyan politician who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD from September 2013-February 2021 when he stepped down for his presidential ambitio ...
(Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD), the late Hon
Masinde Muliro
Henry Pius Masinde Muliro (June 30, 1922 β August 14, 1992) was a Kenyan politician from the Bukusu sub-tribe of the larger Abaluhya people of western Kenya. He was one of the central figures in the shaping of the political landscape in K ...
(founder member of the original KADU independence party, founder member of FORD party) late Hon
Wamalwa Kijana (former vice president), the late Cardinal
Maurice Michael Otunga
Maurice Michael Otunga (January 1923 – 6 September 2003) was a Kenyan Catholic prelate and cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Nairobi from 1971 until his resignation in 1997. Pope Paul VI elevated him into the cardinalate in 197 ...
(head of the Catholic Church in Kenya), the late
Elijah Masinde
Elijah Masinde ( 1910/1912-1987) was a Bukusu activist.
Early life
Born around 1910 β 1912 in Kimilili, Bungoma District, Masinde wa Nameme okhwa Mwasame was initiated into the Machego age-set. At the time, the Kenya-Uganda railway was passi ...
(founder of Dini ya Musambwa), Sudi Namachanja (chief during colonial times), Hon.
Lawrence Sifuna Lawrence Sifuna Sifuna (born January 23, 1946) is a Kenyan politician who was Member of Parliament for Bumula, the first MP of that constituency. He was first elected to the Kenyan Parliament on November 8, 1979 in the then larger Bungoma South con ...
(Second-Liberation hero in the struggle for multiparty democracy in Kenya), Luka Namulala (community fortune teller), among others. Among the women that have stood out include Dinah Khayota (former women's rights leader), Justice Ruth Nekoye, former Deputy Chief Justice
Nancy Barasa, Beatrice Kituyi (a prominent lawyer and former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour), Dr Eusebius Juma Mukhwana (agriculture/educationist), and Prof. Adrian Mukhebi (agriculture) among others.
In business, notable figures include Makhanu Munata, Maurice Butala, Vincent Naliakho, mama Dinah Kibunguchy, Henry Wakwabubi, Tom Katenya, Mama lutia (Nalondo), Dimina Agencies, Mwalimu Kokonya, Moses Simiyu, Luketelo, Mbaya, and Didimo Satia, among others.
Bungoma County have had prominent innovators in the NGO world that helped champion the cause for the poor in society. One such person is Jim Nduruchi, the "jigger man" who started Rise Up Society, a community welfare organization that helped free thousands of people from the jigger scourge that afflicted mainly the poor from all walks of life. He is the winner of Google Awards (2016) in the sub Saharan Africa and his movement called "Love in action" had brought together people from everywhere on the planet to team up and drum up support for the suffering rural folk in Kenya.
Political leadership
Politically, over the last 17 years or so, the community have been members of
Ford-Kenya, the party formerly headed by Wamalwa Kijana. Through this party, the community has been able to express and participate in national politics. More recently, community members now have MPs drawn from the
Orange Democratic Movement
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...
(ODM), the
Party of National Unity (Kenya)
The Party of National Unity (PNU) is a political party in Kenya originally founded as a political coalition. On 16 September 2007, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki announced the party formation and said that he would run as its presidential candid ...
(PNU), Ford-Kenya, and New-Ford-Kenya. Currently,
Kenneth Lusaka
Kenneth Makelo Lusaka (born 18 September 1963) is the 2nd and current governor of Bungoma County. Previously, he served as the speaker of Senate 017 -2022and was the 1st Governor of Bungoma County in Kemya, a term he served between 2013 - 2017 ...
was the first Governor 2013 to 2017 followed by the county is headed by Dr
Wycliffe Wafula Wangamati and deputised by Professor
Charles Ngome. They took office in 2017 after Kenneth Lusaka the first Governor lost reelection second term reelection in 2017.
Moses Wetangula
Moses Francis Masika Wetang'ula (born 13 September 1956), is the current Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, as well as leader of the FORD-Kenya party. He served in the government of Kenya as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 20 ...
is the seating senator since 2013 and the Catherine Nanjala Wambilianga is the women representative since 2017.
Administrative and electoral units
Bungoma county consist of nine constituencies, forty five county ward assemblies, eighty five locations and one and eighty three constituencies.
Constituencies
#
Kabuchai
#
Kanduyi
#
Sirisia
#
Kimilili
Kimilili is a town and area in Kenya's Bungoma County. The area is occupied mainly by the Bukusu and few Teso communities it is a trading center for agricultural goods and services. The town has an urban population of 94,927.
The surrounding regi ...
#
Bumula
#
Tongaren
#
Webuye East
#
Webuye West
#
Mt. Elgon
Source
Population
The county has a population of 1,670,570 persons as per 2019 census with a density of 552 persons per square kilometre and an average household 4.6 persons. Out of the total population 812,146 persons are male, 858,389 are female, and 35 are intersex.
Economy
The main economic activities include agriculture, manufacturing, services, and general retail.
Agriculture
Agriculture is the backbone of Bungoma County and most families rely on crop production and animal rearing. The main crops include maize, beans, finger millet, sweet potatoes, bananas, Irish potatoes, and assorted vegetables. These are grown primary for subsistence, with the excess sold to meet other family needs. On the other hand, the main cash crops include sugar cane, cotton, palm oil, coffee, sunflower, and tobacco.
Most families integrate livestock production with farming. The main livestock kept include cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, pigs, poultry, and bees. Most of this is on a small scale but some farmers also produce milk and poultry products for commercial use.
Milk farmers sell their milk though cooperative societies, including Sang'alo, Kikai, and Naitiri.
Manufacturing
Rai Paper, formerly Pan-African Paper Mills (East Africa) Limited, is one of the largest manufacturing companies in the county. The company, which was incorporated in 1969, is based in Webuye Town and manufactures paper products. Pan Paper, as it was commonly known, struggled and eventually collapsed in 2009 due to a myriad of factors, including mismanagement. In its heyday, Pan Paper was the largest company in Bungoma and employed 5,000 people directly and another 30,000 indirectly. Due to its importance to the economy of Webuye Town, the collapse brought the town to its knees, with most businesses shutting down. In an effort to revive the company, the government of Kenya privatized it in 2016 and it was bought by Tarlochan Ltd, a subsidiary of Rai Group of Companies, for Ksh 900 million (US$9 million). Due to long neglect, the company needed a major overhaul of machinery, with the new owner saying it would cost about Ksh 6 billion (US$60 million) to fully rehabilitate. Today, the company is operating on a lower scale and employs about 500 people.
Nzoia Sugar Company Ltd is the other major manufacturing company in the county. Established in 1975, the company serves over 67,000 farmers within and outside of Bungoma County. The company's nucleus cane estate covers 3,600 hectares, while the out-grower zone spans over 23,500 hectares. Nzoia Sugar has however not provided farmers with a stable source of income. Frequent closures, occasioned by mismanagement, huge debts, and failure to pay farmers, who in turn refuse to supply cane, have continued to hinder its operations.
The other factories and industries in the county include Malakisi Tobacco Leaf Centre, Webuye Heavy Chemicals Industry, and small coffee factories. Milk plants and large bread bakeries are also present in the county.
Services sector
Bungoma is served by several financial institutions, including major banks such as
Barclays
Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.
Barclays traces ...
,
KCB,
Equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
* Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the dif ...
,
Cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
,
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality β a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, Family, Diamond Trust, and Bank of Africa. The county also has several micro-finance institutions, including K-Rep and Kenya Women Finance Trust. Insurance companies with a presence in the county include British American, Geminia, Pan African, Blue Shield, and Amaco, among others. The county is served by several post offices, and major mobile telephone operators in Kenya including Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom. Courier operators in the county include G4S Security and Wells Fargo.
Some of these service providers, such as Safaricom, employ hundreds through their services such as Mpesa.
Tourism
Despite having some potential for tourism, including the Mt. Elgon National Park and cultural events such as traditional circumcision, Bungoma's tourism sector is under-developed. It is only recently that an upsurge of the hotel industry has been experienced, mainly driven by business travelers.
Retail
Bungoma County has had a vibrant retail sector which has been growing. The major supermarkets operating in the county include
Nakumatt
Nakumatt was a Kenyan supermarket chain. "Nakumatt" is an abbreviation for Nakuru Mattress.
Overview
, Nakumatt had 65 stores in the African Great Lakes countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. It employed over 5,500, and had gross a ...
,
Naivas
Naivas Supermarket, often referred to simply as "Naivas", is the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, with 84 outlets as of June 2022. A that time, Naivas was the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, ahead of Quick Mart Limited with 51 outlets in ...
, Khetias, and Shariffs. Chepkube and Kimilili Market are the county's leading secondhand clothes market, which provides entrepreneurship opportunities to many residents.
Education
There are a total of 1292 ECD centres, 961 primary schools and 306 secondary schools.
The main university in the area is
Kibabii University
Kibabii University is a public university in Kenya located in Bungoma County along Bungoma-Chwele highway. Previously a constituent college of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technol ...
, which was chartered in 2015, and is a
public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
located about 10 km from Bungoma Town, along the Chwele-Kimilili Road. The vice chancellor is Professor Isaac Odeo Ipara.
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology or MMUST, formerly Western University College of Science and Technology, is a non-profit public university in Kenya. The university is named after Masinde Muliro, a Kenyan politician who helped f ...
(MMUST) has campuses at Bungoma and Webuye. Other major educational institutions of higher learning include SACRED Training Institute (STI), Sang'alo Institute of Science and Technology, Matili Polytechnic, Kisiwa Polytechnic, and Kibabii Diploma Teacher's College.
The county also has major national and county schools, such as Vunjosi FYM Sec School,
Friends School Kamusinga
Friends School Kamusinga (FSK), popularly known as Kamu/Frischka, is a Kenyan Quaker national school established in 1956 and located in Kimilili, Bungoma County, Kenya. The school is located 400 kilometres from Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. It ...
,Lugulu Girls, Kibabii High School, Chwele Girls, Misikhu Girls, Naitiri boys,
St. Luke's Boys' High School, Magemo friends, Ndivisi Secondary and Bungoma High School. The residents of the county highly value education and invest a great deal in it.
Major professionals that have been through the higher education sector in Kenya include Prof. Kassily (medic), Prof. Simiyu Wandibba (archaeology), Prof. Vincent Simiyu (history), Prof. Henry Kerre (education), Prof. Monica Mwiseli (maths), Prof. Barasa Wangila (aquaculture), Eng. Prof. Sibilike K. Makhanu (Professor of Civil Engineering), Prof. Eusebius Mukhwana (agriculture/educationist), Prof Adrian Mukhebi (agriculture), and Prof. Ngome Kibanani.
Health
Bungoma county has 11 hospitals, 19 health centres, 96 dispensaries and 178 clinics.
There is a total of 915 bed capacity in the county with distribution as follows; level five has 216 beds, level four 462 beds, level three 176 and level 2 61 beds.
NGOs
There are a number of
non-governmental organizations
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
currently working in Bungoma.
One Acre Fund
One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that supplies smallholder farmers in East Africa with asset-based financing and agriculture training services to reduce hunger and poverty. Headquartered in Kakamega, Kenya, the organization works with farmer ...
in an effort to improve farming incomes, is introducing more profitable crops and farming techniques to farmers and providing farming inputs in exchange for a share of future revenues. For over 15 years, SACRED Africa has been working with farmers to improve farm productivity,
soil health
Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong ...
, Technology transfer and marketing of agricultural produce. the organization pioneered the concept of cereal banking in western Kenya which won a UN award for innovative resolution of challenges facing
smallholder
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
marketing.
Sun24 has trained over 60,000 women in Bungoma to cook with rock beds in their traditional wood cookstoves. Rock beds are free and cut firewood usage by a third and cut smoke by much more.
Village Enterprise has trained more than 600,000 women in Bungoma on how to start, develop and sustain businesses in the county. They have also encouraged the registration of women groups in order to facilitate them to a bigger pool of resources from the government in order to improve livelihoods.
Services and urbanisation
Source
USAid Kenya
Administration
The county has nine constituencies:
*
Bumula Constituency Bumula Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of nine constituencies in 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 ...
*
Kabuchai Constituency
*
Kanduyi Constituency Kanduyi Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of nine constituencies in 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 ...
*
Kimilili Constituency
*
Mt. Elgon Constituency
Mount Elgon Constituency is an electoral constituency in Bungoma County, Western Kenya
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 co ...
*
Sirisia Constituency Sirisia Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coo ...
*
Tongaren Constituency
Tongaren is an electoral constituency in Kenya. Tongaren constituency politically came into existence in 2012 prior to the 2013 general election. The constituency was carved off from the then larger Kimilili Constituency. It is one of the 290 con ...
*
Webuye West Constituency
*
Webuye East Constituency
Webuye East is a List of constituencies of Kenya, constituency in Kenya. It is one of nine constituencies in Bungoma County.
Members Of Parliament
References
Constituencies in Bungoma County
{{Kenya-geo-stub ...
Villages and settlements
*Chelebei
*Chesikaki
*Kamukuywa
*Kapsokwany
*Kamusinga
*
Laboot
*Mbakalo
*Kibisi
*Lunyu
*karima
See also
*
Trans Nzoia County
*
Uasin Gishu County
Uasin Gishu County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, counties of Kenya located in the former Rift Valley Province. Eldoret has the county's largest population center as well as its administrative and commercial center. βIt lies between longi ...
*
Nandi County
Nandi County is a county in Kenya in the North Rift, occupying an area of 2,884.4 square kilometres. Its capital, Kapsabet, is the largest town in the county while other towns include Mosoriot, Tinderet, Kobujoi, Kaiboi, Kabiyet and Nandi ...
*
Kakamega County
*
Busia County
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 893,000 pe ...
*
Kisumu County
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 Cit ...
References
{{Coord, 0, 35, N, 34, 35, E, region:KE_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title
Counties of Kenya
People from Bungoma County
Bungoma County
Western Province (Kenya)