Mbeere District was a former
administrative district
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 ...
in the
Eastern Province of
Kenya
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. Its capital town was
Siakago
Siakago is a town in Embu County, Kenya. It was previously the capital of the former Mbeere District of Eastern Province. It hosted Mbeere county council and was also headquarters of Siakago division of Mbeere District. In 1999, Siakago division ...
. The district had a population of 170,950 and an area of 2,093 km
2. The district was split from
Embu District
Embu County is a county of Kenya. The capital of Embu County and the former Eastern province headquarters, Embu is a large and largely metropolitan area with a population of 608,599 persons. The county borders Kirinyaga to the west, Kitui to t ...
in 1996. In 2010, it was merged into
Embu County.
The natives here, the
Mbeere people
The Mbeere or Ambeere people are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the former Mbeere District in the now-defunct Eastern Province of Kenya. According to the 2019 Kenya National census, there are 195,250 Ambeere who inhabit an area of 2,093 km ...
, speak the Kimbeere language. There is also a large chunk of peoples from the
Akamba community mainly concentrated in the southern parts of the former district.
The former district hosts the famous seven folks dams, which include: Masinga dam, Kamburu dam, Gitaru dam, Kindaruma dam and Kiambere dam which it shares with
Machakos County
Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being because of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The country's first administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is ...
. The dams are a part of Tana River. Other local places of interest include the
Mwea National Reserve, and
Kiangombe
Kiangombe is a town and commune of Angola, located in the province of Cuanza Norte.
See also
* Communes of Angola
The Communes of Angola ( pt, comunas) are administrative units in Angola after municipalities. The 163 municipalities of An ...
mountain, which peaked at 1804 metres stands out compared to adjacent topography, although is not as spectacular as the
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...
located less than 100 kilometres northwest.
The dominant crops found there include fruits like mangoes, melons, pawpaws and passion fruits. The farmers in this area grow maize, beans, cowpeas, pigeon peas, black peas-njavi; others like millet are seasonally grown there. Mbeere district also came to be known with
miraa
Khat or qat ( ''ch’at''; Oromo: ''Jimaa'', so, qaad, khaad, khat or chat, ar, القات ''al-qāt'') is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, which is said to cause e ...
, as it was the second largest producer after Meru. The miraa crop is commonly grown in what was the northern part of the district.
Mbeere district had only one local authority, Mbeere county council. The district had two constituencies:
Siakago Constituency and
Gachoka Constituency. The district was divided into four administrative divisions. More changes were expected with the split of the districts in year 2009; Mbeere South district whose headquarters is in Kiritiri town and Mbeere North district with headquarters in Siakago town.
Currently the constituencies have had their names changed from Gachoka to
Mbeere South Constituency and from Siakago to
Mbeere North Constituency.
References
External links
reliefweb.int(PDF)
aridland.go.ke
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Former districts of Kenya