Welcome to Kakamega County
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Location and size Kakamega
Kakamega County is located in the Western part of Kenya and borders Vihiga County to the South, Siaya County to the West, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia Counties to the North and Nandi and Uasin Gishu Counties to the East.
The County covers an area of 3,051.3 KM2 and is the second populous county after Nairobi with the largest rural population. The altitude of the county is between 1,240 metres and 2,000 metres above sea level.
Physical and Topographic features
The altitudes of the county ranges from 1,240 metres to 2,000 metres above sea level. The southern part of the county is hilly and is made up of rugged granites rising in places to 1,950 metres above sea level. The Nandi Escarpment forms a prominent feature on the county’s eastern border, with its main scarp rising from the general elevation of 1,700 metres to 2,000 metres. There are also several hills in the county such as Misango, Imanga, Eregi, Butieri, Sikhokhochole, Mawe Tatu, Lirhanda, Kiming’ini hills among others.
Ecological conditions
There are two main ecological zones in the county namely; the Upper Medium (UM) and the Lower Medium (LM). The Upper Medium covers the Central and Northern parts of the county such as Ikolomani, Lurambi, Malava, Navakholo and Shinyalu that practise intensive maize, tea, beans and horticultural production mainly on small scale; and Lugari and Likuyani where large scale farming is practised. The second ecological zone, the Lower Medium (LM), covers a major portion of the southern part of the county which includes Butere, Khwisero, Mumias East, Mumias West and Matungu. In this zone, the main economic activity is sugarcane production with some farmers practising maize, sweet potatoes, tea, ground nuts and cassava production.
Climatic conditions
The annual rainfall in the county ranges from 1280.1mm to 2214.1 mm per year. The rainfall pattern is evenly distributed all year round with March and July receiving heavy rains while December and February receives light rains. The temperatures range from 18 0C to 29 0C. January, February and March are the hottest months with other months having relatively similar temperatures except for July and August which have relatively cold spells. The county has an average humidity of 67 percent. Since the early 1960s both minimum (night) and maximum (day) temperatures have been on a warming trend throughout Kenya. Current projections indicate increases in temperature.
Recent trends show a marked increase in inter-annual variability and distribution of rains, with an increase in the number of consecutive dry days and shorter but more intense periods of rainfall resulting in an increase in frequency of floods. Future climate change may lead to a change in the frequency or severity of such extreme weather events, potentially worsening impacts. Increased average temperatures and changes in annual and seasonal rainfall will be felt across key economic sectors, such as agricultural production, health status, water availability, energy use, infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services (including forestry and tourism). Impacts are likely to have disproportionateeffets on the poor as such groups have fewer resources to adapt to climatic change and vulnerability.
People of Kakamega
The Luhya tribe, also known as the Abaluhya or Abaluyia, is a Bantu tribe living in Kenya’s agriculturally fertile western region. They are neighbors to some of the Nilotic tribes, including the Luo, Kalenjin, Maasai and Teso (Iteso).
Luhyas are Kenya’s second largest ethnic tribe following the Kikuyu, and they account for 14 percent of the Kenyan population.
Though considered one tribe, the Abaluhya consist of over 18 sub-tribes, each speaking a different dialect of the Luhya language. The Bukusu and Maragoli are the two largest Luhya sub-tribes. Others include the Banyala, Banyore, Batsotso, Gisu, Idakho, Isukha, Kabras, Khayo, Kisa, Marachi, Marama, Masaaba, Samia, Tachoni, Tiriki and Wanga.
History of the Luhyas
The true origin of the Abaluhya is disputable. According to their own oral literature, Luhyas migrated to their present day location from Egypt (north of Kenya). Some historians, however, believe that the Luhya came from Central and West Africa alongside other Bantus in what is known as the Great Bantu Migration.
The Luhya tribe, like many other Kenyan tribes, lost their most fertile land to the colonialists during the British colonial rule of Kenya. The Abaluhya, and especially the Bukusu, strongly resisted colonial rule and fought many unsuccessful battles to regain their land. The Wanga and Kabras sub-tribes, however, collaborated with the colonialists.
Luhya culture and lifestyle
Traditionally, the extended family and the clan were at the center of the Luhya culture. Luhyas practiced polygamy, and a man was given more respect depending on the number of wives he had. This is because only a very wealthy man could afford to pay the dowry (bride price) for several wives. The dowry was paid in the form of cattle, sheep, or goats. Today, polygamy is no longer widely practiced, but dowry payment is still revered in some Luhya communities. Instead of giving cattle, sheep, or goats as the bride price, one may pay a dowry in the form of money. However, marrying a person from one’s own clan is considered taboo.
Traditional male circumcision is an important ritual in most Luhya sub-tribes. It marks the initiation from boyhood to manhood. The modern and educated Luhyas continue to choose to circumcise their sons in hospitals upon birth. However, among some factions of the Bukusu and Tachoni, traditional circumcision ceremonies still take place every August and December.
Luhyas and sports
Luhya people are great sports enthusiasts, especially when it comes to rugby and soccer. Many Luhyas show wide support for the AFC Leopards soccer club, which they consider to be their own. The club was formed in the early 1960s under the name Abaluhya Football Club, and has traditionally had a bitter rivalry with Gor Mahia FC, a club associated with the Luo. In Kenya’s football history, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia FC were, for a long time, the best soccer teams in the country. Luhyas produced most of the players on Kenya’s national soccer team, the Harambee Stars.
Traditional bullfighting is still considered a sport among sections of the Luhya ethnic tribe. The annual bullfighting competition attracts many spectators, including Dr. Bonny Khalwale, the current member of Parliament (MP) for Ikolomani.
Faith and religion of the Abaluyias
Today, most people from the Luhya tribe are Christians; however, it is common to find some Luhyas mixing Christianity with aspects of African traditional religion. For example, Dini ya Msambwa, a religion whose adherents are mostly Luhyas, uses portions of the bible for its doctrine while practicing traditional witchcraft at the same time. God, in Luhya language, is Nyasaye, a name borrowed from their Nilotic Luo neighbors.
Luhya tribe’s economic activities
Like other Kenyans, Luhyas are involved in almost every sector of Kenya’s economy. For example, in most urban areas, there are as many Luhyas working as professionals as there are working as semi-skilled laborers. In their native Western Kenya region, Luhyas practice farming and agriculture, growing sugarcane and other cash crops specific to the region. Most of the sugar consumed in Kenya is produced in Mumias, a Luhya land. Other agricultural products grown by the Luhya include maize (corn) and wheat.
Abaluhya food
Ugali, known as obusuma in the Luhya language, is the traditional food of the Abaluhya. Ugali is made from either maize flour or cassava, or millet flour. It is usually served with chicken. While Luhyas eat many other foods, a meal is never complete without some ugali.
Kakamega Forest
Kakamega Forest is one of western Kenya’s star attractions, and if you have any interest at all in the natural world, it’s worth going far out of your way to see. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to get to Kakamega Forest from Kisumu or, if you’ve been in the Mount Elgon region, from Webuye along a scenically forested stretch of the A1.
Some 400 years ago, Kakamega Forest would have been at the eastern end of a broad expanse of forest stretching west, clear across the continent, virtually unbroken as far as the Atlantic. Three hundred years later, following human population explosion and widescale cultivation, the forests everywhere had receded, reducing Kakamega to an island of some 2400 square kilometres, cut off from the rest of the Guineo-Congolan rainforest. Today, it has shrunk to just 230 square kilometres, a small patch of relict equatorial jungle, famous among zoologists and botanists around the world as an example of how an isolated environment can survive cut off from its larger body.
Despite a laudable scheme to educate the local population about the forest (see “Keep our Forest”), the lack of any coherent backing or action from the authorities means that its long-term future isn’t bright. Pressure from local people, who need grazing for their livestock, land to cultivate, and firewood, amounts to a significant threat. The present area is less than a tenth of what it was in 1900, and its closed canopy cover (which indicates the forest’s health and maturity) has dropped from ninety to fifty percent of the total area. This has led to the degradation of the natural habitat, and, inevitably, to some species being threatened, while others, like the leopard, last seen in the forest in 1992, are becoming extinct.