Kalenga is an administrative

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the

Iringa Rural Iringa Rural District (''Wilaya ya Iringa Vijijini'') is one of the four districts of the Iringa Region of Tanzania, East Africa. It is bordered to the north by the Dodoma Region, to the east by Kilolo District and encircles Iringa Urban D ...

district of the

Iringa Region Iringa Region (''Mkoa wa Iringa'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Guinea Bissau. Iringa Region is bor ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. In 2016 the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics reported its population to be 7,286, up from 6,963 in 2012. Kalenga, which is situated along the side-lines of the

Great Ruaha River The Great Ruaha River is a river in south-central Tanzania that flows through the Usangu wetlands and the Ruaha National Park east into the Rufiji River. It traverses and marks the borders between Iringa Region, Dodoma Region and Morogoro Region. ...

, is one among the historical villages of "Iringa". It it is known for being the residence of the famous Chief Mtwa Mkwawa of the Hehe tribe, who resisted German colonization. Mkwawa fortified the village with a wall 4 meters high and 5 kilometers in circumference.Description of German commander von Scheele, according to John Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika, Cambridge University Press, , page 112 The town was stormed by a German force in 1894, and the fortifications were destroyed. Mkwawa continued to resist until 1898, when he was finally hunted down by the Germans and committed suicide. His head was cut off and sent to Germany, but eventually returned in 1954; his skull is now on display in a small museum in Kalenga.

Villages and vitongoji

The ward has 3 villages and 16 vitongoji. * Tosamaganga ** Ipamba ** Irangi ** Mabanda ** Tosa kilimani ** Unyangwila * Kalenga ** Galinoma ** Igawa ** Ilundimembe ** Kidope ** Lipuli ** Maktaba ** Mwambao ** Wangi * Isakalilo ** Isakalilo A ** Isakalilo B ** Isakalilo C

Gallery

References

Wards of Iringa Region {{Iringa-geo-stub