Kibwezi is a town in

Makueni County Makueni County (formerly Makueni District) is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Wote. The county has a population of 987,653 (2019 census). The county lies between Latitude 1° 35' and 2° 59' Sou ...

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

. Kibwezi town is the headquarters of Kibwezi division, one of 15

administrative divisions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

in Makueni County. The division has a population of 80,236, of whom 4,695 are classified urban. The division has four

locations In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

: Kikumbulyu, Kinyambu, Masongaleni and Utithi. Kibwezi town is located within Kikumbulyu location. Kibwezi is also named for

Kibwezi Constituency Kibwezi Constituency was an electoral constituency in Kenya. It was one of five constituencies in Makueni District. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections. After the 2010 constitution, there were six constituencies set up in Makue ...

, the local

electoral constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

. Kibwezi town does not seat a

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

but is part of Makueni County.Electoral Commission of Kenya
''Registration centres by electoral area and constituency''

Education

The largest school is the Kibwezi Educational Centre, a partnership between the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and Burke Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). It contains a polytechnic offering two-year vocational programs in carpentry, masonry, welding, and tailoring. There is also a secretarial department which requires students to have graduated from secondary school. A primary school and preschool are for grades one though eight. Scholarships are available for need based students such as orphans. There are around thirty children in the greater Kibwezi area supported and sometimes under scholarship for educational costs. Students from very needy families benefit from the government disbursed bursaries.

Banking and local economy

There are two banks and two credit unions in town. The largest bank is the

Kenya Commercial Bank KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. It is licensed as a commercial bank, by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator. The bank has also been running Agency banking mode ...

. The Largest Credit Union is the

Sidian Bank Sidian Bank, formerly known as K-Rep Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator. Location The headquarters of Sidian Bank are located at K-Rep Centre, on Wood Avenue, in Kilimani ...

. One

Microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

program, run by Empowering the Poor in Development(EPID) - Kenya partnered with the United States-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit
The Walking with Africans Foundation (WAF)
focuses on organizing and providing initial funding to Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) groups. EPID and WAF jointly oversee 5 ROSCA groups totaling 120 members in the greater Kibwezi area. The program provides initial loans without collateral, allowing members of peer groups the opportunity to co-guarantee repayment of loans and assume management of the revolving fund. The small interest collected from loans is reinvested into lending to more participants. To qualify and remain in the program, participants must meet strict monitoring criteria and pay back the original loans through small weekly repayments and contributions to joint savings. Qualified participants who own small businesses or who seek to establish small business enterprises are extended loans on a short-term repayment cycle (3 to 6 months). WAF was founded by James Munthali, a retired economist with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF), and other members of Burke Presbyterian Church in the suburbs of Washington D.C., United States of America. M-Pesa is a

branchless banking A direct bank (sometimes called a branch-less bank or virtual bank) is a bank that offers its services only via the Internet, email, and other electronic means, often including telephone, online chat, and mobile check deposit. A direct bank has no b ...

service, meaning that it is designed to enable users to complete basic banking transactions without the need to visit a

bank branch A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution (including a brokerage firm) offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers. History and ...

. The continuing success of M-Pesa in

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

has been due to the creation of a highly popular, affordable payment service with only limited involvement of a bank.Dial M for money. (2007, June 28). ''The Economist.'' Retrieved December 6, 2007
/ref>

Religion

There are several religions represented in the town. There is a mosque for the local Muslim community and several churches of varying Christian denominations. The two largest congregations are Catholic and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Presbyterian

Kibwezi is defined by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa as a Nendeni Area, a region for church growth. There is one church located inside the Kibwezi Educational Centre. This has been named the Bethel Church. Furthermore, there are approximately 14 smaller congregations in the surrounding villages near Kibwezi. Rev. Lauden Kangele is the pastor of the Kibwezi Nendeni area. The village churches are served on Sunday by evangelists (not pastors) employed by the Kibwezi Bethel Church. A few of these areas are: *Kikauni *Mbui-nzau *Usalama *Muusini *Maikuu *Misuuni *Masongaleni *Kyumani *Makindu *Kisingo *Kilema Kibwezi has also other churches e.g. Seventh Day Adventist Church near Kambua guest house and opposite to Kibwezi Teachers college, the Kenya Assemblies Of God located at Muthaiga estate, the Redeemed Gospel Church also at Muthaiga, the Pentecostal Assemblies Of God and the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya. These are the Pentecostal Churches Of Kibwezi.

Transport

The most common form of transport is public minivans and buses. Within the town and its adjacent areas, motorbikes and bicycles bodaboda are commonly used. It has a station on the

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 ...

between Mombasa and Nairobi. There is also a station for the new Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway a few kilometers from the town centre. The town is located along the

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

–

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

highway. Another road connects Kibwezi with

Kitui Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 180 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes ...

References

External links

* ''Map:'
UN Map
{{coord, 02, 25, 00, S, 37, 58, 00, E, region:KE_type:city, display=title Masongaleni high school, 124-90136 Nzeeka. A mixed secondary school. The school has a population of 350 students. Makueni County Populated places in Eastern Province (Kenya)