Makueni County
Makueni County
Makueni County is an administrative county in the Eastern Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Wote. The county has a population of 884527 (2009 census) and an area of 7,966 km²
The county has five constituencies:
• Mbooni Constituency
• Kilome Constituency
• Kaiti Constituency
• Makueni Constituency
• Kibwezi Constituency
The Akamba People
The Akamba are the fourth largest ethnic community in Kenya. They occupy the traditional countys of Kitui, Machakos, Makueni and Mwingi in the lower part of Eastern Province (Ukambani). The Akamba also live in Mbeere, Kirinyaga, Kwale and Taita Taveta countys with a sizeable Kamba Diaspora community in Tanzania, the Democratic
Republic of Congo and other parts of the world. They are also the leading integrationists with communities such as the Mbeere, Embu, Taveta and Tharaka being largely Kamba by blood.
History has it that the Kamba migrated into Kenya in the 14th Century and settled in the Taveta area before migrating northwards to the Nzaui Hills in the present day Makueni county. A dispersal of the community occurred in the 17th century, with some moving to Mbooni and others to Kitui, Mwingi and the fringes of Central province. The Mbooni
group later moved to present day Machakos and Kangundo countys.
The Akamba people have made significant contributions to the historical development of modern Kenya: the country draws its name from the Kamba compound word Kiinyaa; the Kamba were an integral part of the Mau Mau struggle for freedom contributing human and other resources including the oath (Kithitu) that was administered by the Mau Mau
fighters; the first person to raise the Kenyan flag on Mount Kenya comes from the community; the Akamba are known for their expertise in hunting and marksmanship; they are acknowledged as the greatest traditional healers in the land; they were the architects of opposition unity in the 1990s; and they led the way towards the education of the Kenyan people on their political rights and their empowerment for agitating for democratic and constitutional reforms.
Climate in Makueni County
The county is characterized by extreme rainfall variability. Typically good seasons are interspersed with extremely dry seasons and variations in the onset of rainy seasons add to the difficulty of ensuring adequate food production. The county has two rainy seasons with two peaks in March / April (long rains) and November/December (short rains).
From June to October is a long dry period, while January to March is a short one. The hilly parts of the county receive 800 to 1200 mm of rainfall per year. The rest of the county receives less rainfall at about 500mm per annum. The high temperature experienced in the low-lying areas cause high evaporation.
The overall drainage pattern in the county is from west to east. There are a few permanent rivers / streams in the county. Athi River is the only major perennial river that drains the entire county. Mbooni and Kilungu Hills have a few perennial streams whose flow is extremely intermittent at low altitudes. In Kibwezi County, Kambu, and Kiboko Rivers drain the new county.
For Kenya, climate change, whether caused from afar or self-induced, is beginning to have a very serious impact on people’s livelihoods – particularly the poorer people, who are much less able to withstand the effects. The ‘drying springs of Makueni’ and many other Kenyan villages across the country, are seen as a critical warning sign, that the Kenyan climate is changing and that unless we take urgent steps to address those changes, things may very quickly get a whole lot worse.
The rainfall pattern is bi-monsoonal with the long (but unreliable) rains coming in March to May and the more reliable short rains in October to December. The temperature ranges are between 18°- 24° in the cold seasons and 24°-33°in the hot days.
Economic activities in Makueni Count
There are three main livelihood zones in the above county s; marginal mixed farming, mixed farming (coffee/dairy/irrigation), and mixed farming (food crops/cotton/livestock).
The major crop grown is maize, which is the stable food in the county. Other crops grown in order of importance are cow peas, beans, pigeon peas and green grams.
Geography of Makueni County
The major land formation in Makueni county includes the volcanic Chyulu Hills, which lie along the southwest border of the county in Kibwezi county. The Mbooni and Kilungu Hills rise to a height of 1,900 metres above sea level.
The land rises slightly below 600 metres above sea level in Tsavo at the southern end of the county. The southern part of the county is low laying grassland, which receives little rainfall but has an enormous potential for ranching. The northern part of the county is hilly with medium rainfall and has potential for food crop production, Dairy, Horticulture and Coffee production. This part of the county (mainly Kilungu, Kaiti, Kilome and Mbooni divisions) has few natural but more planted trees.
The mean temperatures in the county range from 20.2 degrees Centigrade to 24.6 degrees centigrade but the ongoing drought period has recorded temperatures as high as 32 degrees centigrade .
The altitude of the county ranges from 600m above sea level (a.s.l) in the south to 1900m in the west and north. The topography of the county greatly influences the precipitation with the hill masses receiving higher amounts of rainfall in the range of 1200mm, the medium zone receiving up to 750mm and the very low lying zone averaging 600mm of rainfall per year respectively.
Society and Culture in Makueni County
Culture is the hallmark of a people’s consciousness and is the pillar upon which a community bases its own political aspirations, economic development and social identity.
The Akamba people have witnessed unprecedented decline of their indigenous culture from the beginning of the 20th Century, owing to myriad socioeconomic and political factors.
The Akamba people are among the most disoriented cultural entity in Kenya, struggling within a rather transient and inconstant social milieu. The Akamba Cultural Trust (ACT) was founded out of this realization by a group of young public-spirited Akamba intellectuals and activists keen on facilitating a cultural revival within the community.
The Akamba Cultural Trust is a charitable trust formed in 2005 and incorporated2 in 2006, with the mandate of awakening the consciousness of the Akamba people with the aim of establishing a vibrant celebration of Kamba traditions towards a cultural renaissance. The Akamba Cultural Trust is governed by a Board of Trustee, comprising
seven founder members. An embryonic secretariat has been established, headed by an Executive Director. The activities of ACT are currently coordinated in Nairobi but primarily implemented in Ukambani region.
In pursuit of this mandate, the ACT has developed five programmes:
- Akamba CulturalCentre;
- Kiikamba Literature Development;
- Research and Indigenous Knowledge Management;
- Akamba Cultural Rights Education; and
- Networking and Resource Mobilization.
Since its formation, ACT has undertaken the following activities:
- Live performances of the Kiikamba Play: Yua Yii Ni Inene Mbaitu written by Kawive Wambua and Kivutha Kibwana. The play premiered at the Kenya National Theatre in December 2005 and was performed in major towns in Ukambani throughout 2006; and
- Anthology of Kiikamba Poetry Project: This is an ongoing project bringing together contemporary poets from the region. The anthology is currently at the editorial stage and is set for publication, launch and dissemination in the last quarter of 2007.
ACT has also collaborated with the Department of Culture in the Ministry of National Heritage. Following the recently launched ‘environmental awareness campaign’ by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, ACT has secured a grant to carry out a theatre project in Eastern Province.
ACT is also currently involved in the design of the Akamba Cultural Centre. It is the aspiration of ACT to become a leading cultural institution dedicated to research, advocacy and indigenous knowledge management in the East Africa region. It is envisaged that through the activities of the ACT, the Kamba community and other communities in the region will increase the value they attach to their culture and creative expression and will proactively seek and protect their cultural rights