Mbita Point is a town in the former province of Nyanza,

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

, currently in Homa Bay County, on the shores of

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

. It is home to the Thomas Odhiambo campus of the

International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE, branded as ''icipe'') is an international scientific research institute, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya that works towards improving lives and livelihoods of people in Africa. I ...

(ICIPE). A public primary school formerly international and a clinic are hosted by the centre. Mbita has several other primary schools as well as secondary schools. A small sub-district hospital is in the town. The main district hospital is in the neighbouring town of

Sindo SINDO, is one of many semi-empirical quantum chemistry methods. It stands for symmetric orthogonalised INDO and was developed by K. Jug and coworkers. Like MINDO, it is a development of the INDO method. The main development is the inclusion of d or ...

, 17 km away. Mbita has had water and electricity since 2005. Mbita Point has an urban population of 6100, but the population grows rapidly due to urbanization, new technologies like cell phone coverage and internet connection through cyber cafes, electrification, trade and educatio

The town was the capital of the former

Suba District Suba District was an administrative district in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Mbita Point. The district had a population of 155,666 and an area of 1,055 km� Suba district was named after the Suba (Kenya), Suba people, wh ...

. Mbita can be reach by road

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victor ...

Ahero Ahero is a town in the city of Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. It is an agriculture town in Kenya that is part of Kisumu County. The town has a retail market serving as a main trading center for food and goods coming from Kisii, Homabay, ...

- Katito-

Kendu Bay Kendu Bay is a bay and town in Kenya. The area is the part of Rachuonyo North District in Homa Bay County. It is located on the shore of Lake Victoria along Katito-Homa-Bay road. It is the headquarters of the district. Kisumu, the largest urban ...

Homa Bay Homa Bay is a town (and eponymous bay) on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa (in the Luo language ''Got Marahuma'' or ''God Uma'' famous mountain" and Ruma National Park, the latter noted ...

(150 km) or from Kisumu- Luanda Kotieno (90 km) and a 45-minute ferry ride across

Winam Gulf Winam Gulf is a significant extension of northeastern Lake Victoria into western Kenya. Formerly known as Kavirondo Gulf, Nyanza Gulf, and Lake Nyanza Gulf, it is a shallow inlet and is connected to the main lake by Rusinga Channel ( wide), whic ...

. This latter road was tarmacked in 2011. The main income-generating activity in Mbita is fishing, but tourism is becoming a new trade as the road connections to the rest of the country is being improved. There is a tourist resort on the beach about 3 km to the south of the town
Lake Victoria Safari Village
and Mfangano island camp which is located on a nearby island. This can be connected by the ferry which leaves from Mbita twice a day at 10:30 and 17:0

Ruma National Park Ruma National Park is the only terrestrial park in Kenya's Nyanza Province. Dubbed the "Last Retreat of the Roan Antelope", the park protects the only indigenous population of rare roan antelopes within Kenya. At present, the population is on th ...

is a 40-minute drive from Mbita. A

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

links Mbita to nearby

Rusinga Island Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approximately 10 miles (16 km) from end to end and 3 miles (5 km) at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. Part of Kenya, it is linked to Mbita ...

. The causeway was built in 2017.

External links

bbc.co.uk
Homa Bay County Populated places in Nyanza Province Populated places on Lake Victoria {{NyanzaKE-geo-stub