Kiambu County

Climate

The county has an average annual rainfall of 1,200 mm and a mean temperature of 26 C with temperatures as low as -7 C in the upper highland areas of Limuru. The long rains start in mid-March to May, and the cold season from July to August.

Demographics

According to the 2019 census, there is a total population of 2,417,735 in the county: 1,187,146 males, 1,230,454 females, and 135 intersex persons. There are 796,241 households with an average household size of 3.0 persons per household and a population density of 952 people/km2.

Religion

Religion in Kiambu County

Administrative and political units

Political units

Politically, the county is divided into 12 constituencies, 60 county assembly wards, 97 locations and 257 sub-locations.

Electoral constituencies

• Gatundu North Constituency
• Gatundu South Constituency
• Githunguri Constituency
• Juja Constituency
• Kabete Constituency
• Kiambaa Constituency
• Kiambu Constituency
• Kikuyu Constituency
• Lari Constituency
• Limuru Constituency
• Ruiru Constituency
• Thika Town Constituency

Political leadership

Kimani Wa Matangi is the governor of Kiambu County following his election win on a UDA Ticket and successful swearing-in after the 2022 General election. He is deputised by H.E. Rosemary Kirika who hails from Gatundu-North subcounty.

Although the capital is Kiambu town, the Executive conducts business from Thika town. Due to its large Agikuyu dominated populace, Kiambu tends to deliver large votes during presidential elections. In the 2017 presidential election Uhuru Kenyatta, the Jubilee party frontrunner received 912,607 votes in the county, which is the most votes ever received from a single county in Kenya's election history, actually this accounted for nearly sixty percent of Kenyatta's margin of victory in the election. The current Kenya Kwanza government has its most members of Parliament from the county.

Legislature

The legislature of Kiambu County is a unicameral County Assembly. It comprises 60 elected Members of County Assembly (MCA) from the 60 wards of the county and 27 nominated members. The members hold office for a five-year term each, renewable during the general election. The speaker and deputy speaker of the assembly are elected by the MCAs. The County Assembly is located at Kiambu town.

Judiciary

The Kiambu High Court was established on 20 June 2016. As of 2017, it consists of a one-judge bench. It is temporarily located at Thika waiting for a permanent building to be constructed at Kiambu, the capital.

County administration

The county has a county administrator who is appointed by the President of Kenya. He is not part of the county government but is a representative of the President to assist with matters of administration in the county with regards to the national government.

Education

In Kiambu County, there are 1,515 ECD centers, 948 primary schools, 365 secondary schools, 33 youth polytechnics, 165 adult education centers, one technical training institution, one technical institute of technology. There are a number of universities: Kenyatta University, St Paul's University, Presbyterian University of East Africa, Mama Ngina University College, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology and four private universities, Gretsa University, UMMA University, Mount Kenya University and Zetech University.

Health

Kiambu County has a total of 505 health facilities: 108 are public, 64 faith-based, and 333 private. Kiambu County has 2,652 health personnel of different cadre with a doctor/population ratio of 1:6,667, while the nurse population ratio is at 1:1,110. The immunization coverage is at 89%, close to the national target of 90%.

According to 2016 estimates, HIV prevalence is at 5.6% (below the national 5.9%) and the county is ranked 6th in terms of HIV burden.

Transport and communication

The county is covered by 2049 km of road networks. Of this, 459 km is covered by earth surface, 1075.8 km is murram surface, and 515 km is covered by bitumen.

There are 19 Post Offices.

Trade and commerce

There are 302 trading centers, 118 markets, 364 retail supermarkets, 5,813 registered businesses, 5,807 licensed retail traders and 5,740 licensed wholesale traders.

Tatu City is a special economic zone and an industrial park located in Ruiru sub-county. Apart from real estate, individuals and organizations have also invested in processing. Companies operating in Kiambu include: Farmers Choice Ltd, 25 Kenchic Co. Ltd, Brookside Dairies, Githunguri Dairies, Ndumberi Dairies, Limuru Milk and Palmside Dairies. Kiambu has the second largest economy in Kenya, largely due to its sprawling population and close proximity to the capital city. Kiambu also has the second most educated populace of any county in Kenya.

Thika sub-county which hosts Thika Town (also known as Birmingham of Kenya, due to the many industries) has 58 industries, including Bidco Oil Industries, Devki Steel Mills, Broadway Bakeries and Kenblest, among others.

Environment

Around 16% of Kiambu County, 40,000 hectares, is covered by forest. The trees are used for wood fuel as there is a high demand for both charcoal and firewood. Tree planting projects are in progress as the trees face increasing temperatures due to climate change.

In 2021 a leading activist, Joannah Stutchbury was assassinated after protesting about developments in the forest.

Constituencies and sub-counties

The county has twelve constituencies and fourteen sub-counties. Of the twelve constituencies, Lari occupies the largest land mass at 439.2 km2, while Kabete is the smallest by landmass as it occupies 60.3 km2.

Sub-counties

Sub-counties are mostly derived from constituency boundaries but two constituencies, Ruiru and Thika, have two sub-counties each.

• Gatundu North Sub-county
• Gatundu South Sub-county
• Githunguri Sub-county
• Githurai Sub-county
• Kabete Sub-county
• Kiambaa Sub-county
• Kiambu Sub-county
• Kikuyu Sub-county
• Juja Sub-county
• Lari Sub-county
• Limuru Sub-county
• Ruiru Sub-county
• Thika East Sub-county
• Thika West Sub-county

Population

Nairobi Metro

Part of southern areas of Kiambu County are within Greater Nairobi, which consists of four out of 47 counties in Kenya.

Stats

Nairobi Metropolitan

Urbanisation

Wealth/Poverty Level

Central Kenya Region

Urbanisation

Wealth/poverty level

References

References

1. "Political Units".
2. "Kiambu GCP".
3. "Background of Kiambu County".
4. "Kiambu County (Kenya)".
5. "Kiambu Position and Size".
6. (2018). "Kiambu County Integrated Development Plan CIDP 2018-2022". County Government of Kiambu.
7. Munene, Evans. (4 November 2019). "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Results".
8. (2019). "2019 Kenya Population and House Census: Population by County and Sub-county, Volume 1". Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
9. "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics".
10. "179. County executive committees". [[Kenya Law Reform Commission]].
11. "Kiambu gets High Court · Welcome :: Republic of Kenya - the Judiciary".
12. "The County Government Act 2012".
13. "Education, Gender, Culture & Social Services".
14. "History".
15. "Gretsa University – Quality Education For the Real World".
16. "Umma Profile".
17. "Main Campus, Thika".
18. "Publications".
19. "CoG Reports - Kiambu County Integrated Development Plan CIDP 2018-2022".
20. (2016). "Kenya HIV County Profiles 2016".
21. "Health Services".
22. (2015). "County Statistical Abstract Kiambu County 2015".
23. "Kenya Rural Roads Authority".
24. "Trade, Tourism, Industries & Enterprise Development".
25. (2018). "Kiambu County Integrated Development Plan CIDP 2018-2022".
26. (2022-05-22). "Kiambu County attains 16pc forest cover – Kenya News Agency".
27. Burke, Jason. (2021-07-16). "Environment activist shot dead outside Nairobi home after death threats". The Guardian.
28. "County Government of Kiambu – Home".
29. "County Wards".
30. "Political Units".
31. "National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) - Home".
32. (17 January 2020). "The Kenya Gazette: Vol. CXXII —No. 9".
33. (31 January 2022). "The Kenya Gazette: Vol. CXXIV—No. 21".
34. "KENYA: Administrative Division population statistics".
35. (May 2017)
36. (May 2017)