Nyandarua 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
Central Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is
Ol Kalou Ol Kalou is a town in Kenya. It is the capital of Nyandarua County of the former Central Province. It is located west of Aberdare range and 40 kilometres east of Nakuru. Ol Kalou is connected by road to Gilgil, Nyahururu and Nakuru. Ol Kalou forms ...
.
Formerly the capital was
Nyahururu
Nyahururu (formerly known as Thomson's Falls) is a town in Kenya, lying north east of Nakuru. The town derives its name from the Maasai people, Maasai word e-naiwurruwurr, meaning waterfall and/or windy or place of storms. It is located in Laikipia ...
, which is now part of the
Laikipia County
Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki t ...
. Nyandarua County has population of 596,268
and an area of 3,304 km
2. The county is located on the northwestern part of the old Central Province, and contains the
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range, Kikuyu: ''Nyandarua'') is a 160 km (100 mile) long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It straddles across the counties of Nyandarua, Nye ...
s.
The county was split into two in 2007:
Nyandarua North District and
Nyandarua South District. However, with the
promulgation in 2010 of new constitution, these have been re-organised as sub counties of Nyandarua County .
Daniel Waithaka was elected the first governor of the County
2013 General Election and
Francis Kimemia
Francis Thuita Kimemia (born 27 October 1957) is a Kenyan politician and the former governor for Nyandarua county August 2017 - August 2022.
Education
Kimemia was born in Gituamba Village, Githerioni, Lari Constituency, Kiambu County, Kenya t ...
seconds him in August 2017 elections. In the 2022 general elections, Moses Ndirangu Badilisha won the sit, becoming the third Governor of Nyandarua County.
Demographics
Administrative divisions
Constituencies
The county has five constituencies and 25 wards
Health
Nyandarua is serviced by several government hospitals; Nyahururu, Ngano.
Ol Kalou -JM Kariuki Memorial
OL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Orphaned Land, an Israeli progressive metal band
* Old Lace (comics) a telepathically linked dinosaur hero
Businesses and organizations
* OLT Express Germany (IATA code: OL), a scheduled and charter airl ...
district hospital, Engineer District Hospital. Mission hospital funded by church and NGO, Dispensary i.e.Mirangine Health Centre and numbers of private hospital.
County hospitals receive patients from all over the county and in case of referral refer them to Nakuru or Nyeri County Referral hospital and then to
Kenyatta National Hospital
The Kenyatta National Hospital is the oldest hospital in Kenya. It is a public, tertiary, referral hospital for the Ministry of Health. It is also the teaching hospital of the University of Nairobi College of Health Sciences. It is the 2nd l ...
Representatives
The county is represented by 25 elected ward representatives 5 MPs, a Women representative, a Senator and a Governor.
In
2013 presidential election the county voters voted for
Uhuru Kenyatta
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.
Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...
with 237,975 a 99% of valid votes.
In the
2022 general election
The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2022 United Nations Security Council election
* 2022 national electoral calendar
* 2022 local ...
s, majority of the voters voted for
William Samoei Ruto
William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Keny ...
with 189, 513 votes, 78.76% of valid votes.
August
Members of County Assembly (''In reference to August 2022 general elections'')
Legislature
Current Members of parliament from constituencies in the county are;
There were three candidates for governorship during
2013 election
2022 General election.
Moses Kiarie Ndirangu Badilisha and John Mathara Mwangi won the 2022 election on a United Democratic Alliance ticket both being sworn in on the AUGUST 25TH, 2022 AT THE OL’KALOU ARBORETUM GROUNDS as Governor and Deputy Governor of Nyandarua County respectively.
John Methu was elected Senator through
United Democratic Alliance with 185,337 votes against Theuri Kinyanjui who had 34,845 votes and the former Senator Mwangi Paul Githiomi came in third with15,015 votes.
Faith Gitau of the
United Democratic Alliance won by 159,621 votes against her competitors Esther Muhoho of the
Jubilee Party
The Jubilee Party of Kenya was the ruling political party of the Republic of Kenya from 2016 until 13 September 2022. The party was founded on 8 September 2016, following the merger of 11 smaller parties. During the 2017 election, the Jubilee ...
with 40,112 and followed closely by Judy Muhia with 27,819 votes.
In constituency level,
Kinangop Constituency
The Kinangop Plateau is a region in Kenya that lies between the Kenyan Rift Valley to the west and the Aberdare Range to the east. It takes its name from Kinangop Mountain, which rises in the Aberdares to the east.
Geographical features
The edge ...
saw Mr Kwenya Thuku who decided to retain his seat by the
Jubilee Party
The Jubilee Party of Kenya was the ruling political party of the Republic of Kenya from 2016 until 13 September 2022. The party was founded on 8 September 2016, following the merger of 11 smaller parties. During the 2017 election, the Jubilee ...
won by 39,321 votes against Chege Thuku who garnered 34, 842 votes and vied in the
United Democratic Alliance party,
Ol Kalou Constituency Ol Kalou Constituency is an Constituencies of Kenya, electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Nyandarua County. The constituency was established for the 1997 elections.
Members of Parliament
OL'KALOU CONSTITUENCY 202 ...
Hon. Kiaraho, David Njuguna retained his seat with the Jubilee Party having gained 24,058 votes against
United Democratic Alliance contender Sammy Ngotho, who received 19,380 votes. In
Kipipiri Constituency Kipipiri Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Nyandarua County. The constituency has four wards, all of which elect MCAs for the Nyandarua County. The constituency was established for the 1988 elect ...
they made history by electing the first female Member Of Parliament Waniku Muhia who was also the Second Women Representative for Nyandarua County. Jeremiah Kioni Jubilee Secretary lost his seat of ten years to George Gachagwa of
United Democratic Alliance. George who got 30,180 votes against Kioni who had 7,227 votes in the
Ndaragwa Constituency Ndaragwa Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of five constituencies in Nyandarua County
Nyandarua County is a Counties of Kenya, County in the former Central Province (Kenya), Central Province of Kenya. Its capital a ...
.
Education
Children in Nyandarua can access school with ease. Schools are normally situated a walking distance mostly of less than 3 km (for primary school and high school) with a large number of public and private schools. For tertiary education they are a number of colleges and polytechnic but no university.
Education levels vary drastically with 61% of the population having reached primary school, 19% secondary school and only 2% have a tertiary education level.
One of pioneer school is Nyandarua high School which was opened 29 March 1965 with 71 students. Currently they are other major school among others; Kangui high School, Karima Girls, Shamata Girls, Wanjohi Girls, Magumu, Mukoe, Kagondo, Kihingo, Waka Junior, Njabini, Nyahururu Boys. There has been no University in Nyandarua, until Nyandarua Institute was upgraded to a university college under Dedan Kimathi University of Science & Technology. There are some Technical Institutions like Leshau Polytechnic in Ndaragwa Constituency, at Gordon Centre (Next to Kihingo Catholic Church) – Mutanga Parish And Kinagop Technical and Vocational centre in Githioro (kinagop sub county) which was launched on 2017. More Tertiary institution are needed.
Investment challenges
Nyandarua County is a productive area for agriculture, manufacturing and processing. There are a number of challenges including lack of a good road network and adequate distribution of electricity and water.
Interested investors both local and in the diaspora can invest in agriculture, manufacturing, processing and housing.
Nyandarua county is famous for its agricultural productivity. Agricultural produce in terms of Maize, Beans, Irish potatoes, cabbages, spinach, kales, peas, grow in plenty, due to the fertile soils and favourable climate in the county.
Sport
Nyandarua is famous for being the home of athletics such as;
John Ngugi
John Ngugi Kamau (born 10 May 1962), is a former Kenyan long-distance runner, often called one of the greatest cross country runners of all time and winner of the 5000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics, in Seoul South Korea.
Career
Born in Kigu ...
,
Catherine Ndereba
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a Kenyan marathon runner. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008. She is a ...
,
Stanley Waithaka and the late
Samuel Wanjiru
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...
(a one-time Olympic champion, three-time major marathon winner, one-time major marathon silver medalist, and two-time world record holder).
It is also home to Benson Kariuki and Bernard Ndung'u, who are Kenya Bowling Federation champions both in Africa and globally. The county is also famous for organising cross country races at different administrative levels in attempt to nurture young athletes.
Economy
The main economic activity in Nyandarua is farming (crop cultivation and dairy farming). In late 1990s Nyandarua was a leading producer of pyrethrum, however
Kenya Pyrethrum Board the parastatal that was given the role of purchasing, processing and marketing the crop collapsed because of poor management and corruption, severely undermining the livelihood of many farmers. Nyandarua county is well known as a giant in potato farming. However, there has been a number of challenges that are associated with farming such as fluctuation of the market, poor roads, and crop diseases. Aberdare forest which covers a larger area of the country, attract local and international tourist who make a positive income to the local society.
The time is now ripe for the people of Nyandarua to initiate new ways of Agribusiness. Constituencies like Ndaragwa should initiate Agribusiness that does well in semi arid areas like mangoes, millet, cassava, pumpkins and other such crops. A processing factory should be established so that the farmers would get maximum returns.
Tourism
Nyandarua county is famous for various tourism destination sites attracting both local and international tourists. This include the
Aberdare National Park
The Aberdare National Park is a protected area in the Aberdare Mountain Range in central Kenya located east of the East African Rift Valley. It covers the higher areas and the Aberdare Salient to the east.
Overview
The park is located about 10 ...
,
Mount Kipipiri
Mount Kipipiri is an isolated volcano in the Wanjohi Valley, on the Kinangop Plateau near to the Aberdare Range.
It is about northeast of Lake Naivasha, which is visible from the summit.
Wildlife includes Colobus and Sykes monkeys, elephants and ...
, Lake Olbolosat,
Kinangop Plateau
The Kinangop Plateau is a region in Kenya that lies between the Kenyan Rift Valley to the west and the Aberdare Range to the east. It takes its name from Kinangop Mountain, which rises in the Aberdares to the east.
Geographical features
The edge ...
and Elephant Hill Hiking Trail.
Central Kenya Region
Urbanisation
Wealth and poverty level
References
External links
Nyandarua Coun
Counties of Kenyaty
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