Kitui-
Statistics
The Diocese of Kitui comprises the Districts of
Kitui and Mwingi.
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Map of Kenya showing
Ireland to the same scale |
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Kitui District- Position and Size
Kitui district is one of the 13 districts of Eastern Province. It is located in
the southern part of Kenya. It borders Machakos and Makueni districts to the
west, Mwingi District to the north, Tana River district to the east and Taita
Taveta district to the south. The district covers an area of approximately 20,
402 km2 including
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6,90.3 km2 occupied by the uninhabited Tsavo National Park.
The district is divided into 10 divisions 57 locations and 187 sub-locations.
There are 4 parliamentary constituencies in the district. These are Kitui
Central, Kitui West, Mutitu and Kitui South. There are two local authorities,
namely Kitui County Council and Kitui Municipal Council. The total population of
Kitui District is approximately 515,000. |
| The altitude of the district ranges between 400m and 1800m
above sea level. The Central part of the district is characterized by hilly
ridges separated by wide, low lying areas and has slightly lower elevation of
between 600m and 900m above sea level. To the eastern side of the district, the
main relief feature is the Yatta Plateau, which stretches from the north to the
south between rivers Athi and Tana. The plateau is almost plain with wide
shallow spaced valleys. The highest areas in the district are Kitui Central,
Mutitu Hills and Yatta Plateau. The climate of the district is arid and semi arid with very
erratic and unreliable rainfall. Most of the areas are generally hot and dry
leading to high rate of evaporation. |
The annual rainfall ranges between
500-1050mm with 40 per cent reliability. The long rains come in April/May and
short rains in November/December. The short rains are more reliable while long
rains are usually unreliable. The periods falling between June to September and
January to March are usually dry. The topography of the landscape influences the
amount of rainfall received. The high land areas of Mumoni Hills in Kitui
Central and Mutitu in the eastern parts of the district receive between
500-760mm of rainfall per year. The Endau Hills receive 500-1050mm per year,
while the drier eastern and southern areas receive less than 500mm. |
| The district experiences high temperatures throughout the
year, which range from 16 C to 34C. The hot months are between June and
September and January and February. The minimum mean annual temperatures are
280C in the western parts and 220C in the eastern parts. Maximum mean annual
temperatures, on the other hand, are 28C in the western parts and 32C in the
eastern parts. Due to limited rainfall received, surface water sources are
very scarce. The major sources of surface water are seasonal rivers that form
during the rainy seasons and dry up immediately after the rains. |
River Athi is
the only perennial river in the district and flows along the border with
Machakos District. The district has no lake, but has several dams and plans that
play a significant role in providing water. Most of the dams dry up during the
dry season due to the high evaporation rates of between 1800 – 2000mm/year.
Spring water is generally found in the hilly areas of the district namely Mutitu
Hills, Endau hills and Mutha hills. The springs vary in their flow regimes and
some dry up during extended drought periods. Underground water sources
supplement the scarce surface water sources through drilling boreholes. |
| The gazetted and non-gazetted forest land in the district
covers 18,816 ha. Total gazetted forestland is 16,691.6 km2 and 95 per cent is
composed of natural forest while remaining 5 per center consists of mainly
Cypress, Pines and Eucalyptus among others. The forests in the district serve as
water catchments areas. Most of the rivers originate from forest areas. There
are about 400 ha of forestland planted with exotic trees plantations to provide
timber and wood fuel. |
The trees are also used as fodder for livestock, herbal
medicine, and beekeeping birds and animals’ sanctuary. The district is naturally endowed with some minerals and
materials that are exploited on commercial basis. Building sand is found in
abundance The district also has a high potential in tourist attraction though
not adequately exploited. The expansive Tsavo East National Park, which occupies
an area of 6,290.3KM2, has a large population of wildlife., |
| Settlement
Patterns
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Central, Matinyani and Mutonguni divisions had the highest population densities
of 153, 151 and 148 persons per km2 respectively in 1999. Ikutha, Mwitika and
Mutha divisions had the lowest population densities of 6.0, 8.0 and 9.0 persons
per km2 respectively. Land potential largely determines the population densities
between the divisions. Mutonguni, Central and Matinyani divisions have high
densities due to
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high land potentials while the low population densities in
Mwitika, Mutha, Yatta and Ikutha divisions are attributed to low land
potentials. Climatic conditions also influences the settlement patterns. Mwitika,
Mutha and Ikutha divisions experience harsh climatic conditions and have very
low settlement. These areas also border Tana River district in the eastern side
and experience occasional banditry attacks.
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| Mwingi
District |
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Mwingi District is one of the thirteen districts in Eastern Province. It borders
Kitui District to the south, Machakos District to the west, Mbeere and Meru
south District to the north and Tana River District to the east.. The district
covers an area of 10,030.30 km².
and is divided into 9 divisions. |
These are Central
Migwani, Kyuso, Mumoni, Nguni, Ngomeni, Nuu, Mui and Tseikuru, Thirty eight
locations and one hundred and twenty seven sub locations.
The District has two constituencies namely Mwingi North
and Mwingi South, and two local Authorities, namely Mwingi Town Council with 28
wards and Mwingi County Council with 6 wards
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| Geography and Environment |
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Mwingi District is generally plain with a few isolated rock outcrops in Mumoni,
Nuu and Migwani Divisions. The highest point of the district is Mumoni Hill,
with an altitude of 1,747meters above sea level. The landscape is generally
flat, with a plain that gently rolls down towards the east and northeast where
altitudes are as low as 400m.
The highlands namely Migwani, Mumoni, Central and |
Mui Divisions receive more rainfall compared to the lowlands Nguni, Kyuso and
Tseikuru Disions. The drier areas experience severe droughts, which have led to
livestock deaths and food shortages.
The district has red sandy soils, loamy sand soils and patches
of black cotton soils. River valleys have saline alluvial soils of moderate to
high fertility.
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Otherwise, soils are of low fertility and prone to erosion. Most
hills are covered by shallow and stony soils unsuitable for crop farming.
Climate of the district is hot and dry for the greater part of
the year. The maximum mean annual temperature ranges between 26º C and 34º C.
The minimum mean annual temperatures in the district vary between 14º C and 22º
C.
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The district has two rainy seasons, i.e. March – May (long rains) and
October – December (short rains). Rainfall ranges between 400 mm and 800 mm
per year, but is erratic. The short rains are more reliable than the long rains.
In Migwani, Central and Mui Divisions, crop farming is more
prominent than livestock keeping because of the agricultural potential.
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| Settlement Patterns
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Mwingi District is an homogeneous district inhabited mainly by Kambas. The
district has a population of 303,828 (1999 population census) and is projected
to rise to 377,081 people in 2008 with a growth rate of 2.4 per cent. It has an
average population density of 30 persons per km². More than 95 per cent of this
is rural based while 5 per cent is the urban population of which, Mwingi Town
has 4 per cent while the rest is distributed in other trading centers. |
Migwani
is the most densely populated division (101 persons per km²), followed by
Central, Kyuso, Mui, Nuu, Mumoni, Tseikuru, Nguni and finally Ngomeni being the
least densely populated (7 persons, per km²).
The
District shows a very high prevalence of poverty, which is estimated at 60 per
cent with the poor residing in the driest divisions in the district
namely Tseikuru, Kyuso, Ngomeni, Nguni and Nuu Divisions. Migwani, Central and
Mui have least poverty prevalence. |
