Malaba, Kenya is a town in Teso North Sub-County,

Busia County Busia is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It is located directly east of the border town of Busia, Uganda, and borders Lake Victoria to the southwest, Siaya County to the southeast, and Bungoma County and Kakamega County to t ...

, on

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

's western border with

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. It sits across the ''Malaba River'', which forms the international border from

Malaba, Uganda Malaba, Uganda is a town in Tororo District in the Eastern Region, Uganda, Eastern Region of Uganda, on its eastern border with Kenya. It sits adjacent from Malaba, Kenya, across the Malaba River that marks the border between Uganda and Kenya ...

Location

The town is located on the main

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

highway, approximately , by road, west of

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

, the nearest large city. This is about northwest of

, the capital and largest city in Kenya. The coordinates of Malaba, Kenya are: 0°38'07.0"N, 34°16'31.0"E (Latitude:0.635278; Longitude:34.275278). The town sits at an altitude of , above sea level.

Overview

The town sits on the main

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Road, also known as the

Northern Corridor Northern Corridor is a busy and important transport route to the East and Central Africa countries of Burundi, Eastern DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. The main Northern Corridor transport network is connected to the Port of Mombas ...

, which connects the capitals of four

East African Community The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in East Africa. The EAC's membership consists of eight states: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, S ...

countries of

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and

to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

port of Mombasa. A

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

railway, operated by

Rift Valley Railways Rift Valley Railways (RVR) was a consortium established to manage the parastatal railways of Kenya Railways, Kenya and Uganda Railways Corporation, Uganda. The consortium won the bid for private management of the century-old Uganda Railway in 2 ...

crosses the border in this town. The

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railway from

is expected to pass through this town. Malaba and Busia, both border towns between Uganda and Kenya, are used by thousands of truck drivers every day. Many of these drivers spend from a few hours to several days at the border while the trucks are loaded with new goods or while customs processes are cleared. This down time is often spent in the company of commercial sex workers.

Population

Since 1999 to 2023 national population census and household enumerated the population of the town at 7,302 to 12,303.

Border crossing

In 2016, the construction of a one-stop-border-crossing between Malaba, Kenya and Malaba, Uganda was concluded.

References

External links