Kirinyaga County


Kirinyaga County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kerugoya and its largest town is Wanguru. In 2019, the county had a population of 610,411 and an area of 1,478.1 km². The county is bordered to the east and south by Embu County, to the south by a tiny part of Machakos County, to the southwest by Murang'a County and to the northwest by Nyeri County.
Kirinyaga county lies between 1158 and 5199 metres above sea level; its highest point is the summit of Mount Kenya.

History

Kirinyaga District was created in 1963 out of the western part of Embu District.
Kerugoya town was the district headquarters. The district commissioner was based in this town.
In 2007, Kirinyaga District was divided into four new districts:
Since April 2013, the County Government of Kirinyaga administers all of Kirinyaga County.
Formerly, The County Council of Kirinyaga administered all of Kirinyaga County, except the area that was administered by the Municipal Council of Kerugoya /Kutus and the Town council of Sagana-Kagio.
In April 2020, attempts by Deputy President William Ruto's allies to impeach Kiriyaga Governor Anne Waiguru as part of a wider Jubilee Party confrontation between Ruto and President Uhuru Kenyatta were reported by Africa Confidential.

Subdivisions

Kirinyaga District is divided as follows:

Electoral constituencies

The county has four constituencies:

Central Kenya Region

Urbanisation

Source:

Wealth/Poverty Level

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Economy

Like most counties in the Mt. Kenya region, agriculture is the main economic activity in Kirinyaga County. The county is best known for rice production at the Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Coffee and tea are also grown in the cooler areas of Ndia, Gichugu, and Kirinyaga Central constituencies. Other crops grown in the area include maize, beans, tomatoes, french beans and other horticultural crops. Due to scarcity of land and high population, most agriculture is done in small scale. There is also fishing at Sagana along the River Sagana. The business sector is also growing very fast. Thumbs to the Successive governments undertaking key infrastructural developments. This has seen the growth of Markets such as Kagio Market. Kagio market serves Murang'a and Kirinyaga counties traders. We welcome investors in real Estate development to venture in to our revamping economy. It also positive to note that in 2013 Kirinyaga was ranked the second Richest County.

Villages and settlements

Gathambi
Ndiriti
Kandegwa
Muragara