Kibwezi

Last updated

Kibwezi
Kenya adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Kibwezi
Location of Kibwezi
Coordinates: 2°25′S37°58′E / 2.42°S 37.97°E / -2.42; 37.97
Country Kenya
County Makueni County
Time zone UTC+3 (EAT)

Kibwezi is a town in Makueni County, Kenya.

Kibwezi town is the headquarters of Kibwezi division, one of 15 administrative divisions in Makueni County. The division has a population of 80,236, of whom 4,695 are classified urban. The division has four locations: Kikumbulyu, Kinyambu, Masongaleni and Utithi. [1] Kibwezi town is located within Kikumbulyu location.

Contents

Kibwezi is also named for Kibwezi Constituency, the local electoral constituency. Kibwezi town does not seat a local authority but is part of Makueni County. [2]

Education

Kibwezi Bethel Church located with the Kibwezi Educational Centre Kibwizi Bethel Church.JPG
Kibwezi Bethel Church located with the Kibwezi Educational Centre

The largest school is the Kibwezi Educational Centre, a partnership between the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and Burke Presbyterian Church (PCUSA). It contains a polytechnic offering two-year vocational programs in carpentry, masonry, welding, and tailoring. There is also a secretarial department which requires students to have graduated from secondary school. A primary school and preschool are for grades one though eight. Scholarships are available for need based students such as orphans. There are around thirty children in the greater Kibwezi area supported and sometimes under scholarship for educational costs. Students from very needy families benefit from the government disbursed bursaries.

Banking and local economy

There are two banks and two credit unions in town. The largest bank is the Kenya Commercial Bank. The Largest Credit Union is the Sidian Bank.

One Microfinance program, run by Empowering the Poor in Development(EPID) - Kenya partnered with the United States-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit, The Walking with Africans Foundation (WAF) focuses on organizing and providing initial funding to Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA) groups. EPID and WAF jointly oversee 5 ROSCA groups totaling 120 members in the greater Kibwezi area. The program provides initial loans without collateral, allowing members of peer groups the opportunity to co-guarantee repayment of loans and assume management of the revolving fund. The small interest collected from loans is reinvested into lending to more participants. To qualify and remain in the program, participants must meet strict monitoring criteria and pay back the original loans through small weekly repayments and contributions to joint savings. Qualified participants who own small businesses or who seek to establish small business enterprises are extended loans on a short-term repayment cycle (3 to 6 months). WAF was founded by James Munthali, a retired economist with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other members of Burke Presbyterian Church in the suburbs of Washington D.C., United States of America.

M-Pesa is a branchless banking service, meaning that it is designed to enable users to complete basic banking transactions without the need to visit a bank branch. The continuing success of M-Pesa in Kenya has been due to the creation of a highly popular, affordable payment service with only limited involvement of a bank. [3] [4]

Religion

There are several religions represented in the town. There is a mosque for the local Muslim community and several churches of varying Christian denominations. The two largest congregations are Catholic and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Presbyterian

Kibwezi is defined by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa as a Nendeni Area, a region for church growth. There is one church located inside the Kibwezi Educational Centre. This has been named the Bethel Church. Furthermore, there are approximately 14 smaller congregations in the surrounding villages near Kibwezi. Rev. Lauden Kangele is the pastor of the Kibwezi Nendeni area. The village churches are served on Sunday by evangelists (not pastors) employed by the Kibwezi Bethel Church. A few of these areas are:

Kibwezi has also other churches e.g. Seventh Day Adventist Church near Kambua guest house and opposite to Kibwezi Teachers college, the Kenya Assemblies Of God located at Muthaiga estate, the Redeemed Gospel Church also at Muthaiga, the Pentecostal Assemblies Of God ,the African Brotherhood church at Maweni and the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya. These are the Pentecostal Churches Of Kibwezi.

Transport

The most common form of transport is public minivans and buses. Within the town and its adjacent areas, motorbikes and bicycles bodaboda are commonly used.

It has a station on the Uganda Railway between Mombasa and Nairobi. There is also a station for the new Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway a few kilometers from the town centre.

The town is located along the NairobiMombasa highway. Another road connects Kibwezi with Kitui.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mombasa</span> City in Mombasa County, Kenya

Mombasa is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is known as "the white and blue city" in Kenya. It is the country's oldest and second-largest city after Nairobi, with a population of about 1,208,333 people according to the 2019 census. Its metropolitan region is the second-largest in the country, and has a population of 3,528,940 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamba people</span> Ethnic group in Eastern Kenya

The Kamba or Akamba people are a Bantu ethnic group who predominantly live in the area of Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and north to Embu, in the southern part of the former Eastern Province. This land is called Ukambani and constitutes Makueni County, Kitui County and Machakos County. They also form the second largest ethnic group in 8 counties including Nairobi and Mombasa counties.

Safaricom PLC is a listed Kenyan mobile network operator headquartered at Safaricom House in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya, and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central Africa region. The company offers mobile telephony, mobile money transfer, consumer electronics, ecommerce, cloud computing, data, music streaming, and fibre optic services. It is most renowned as the home of M-PESA, a mobile banking SMS-based service.

Mûkûrwe'inî was a former district in Nyeri County, Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Arthur (missionary)</span>

John William Arthur was a medical missionary and Church of Scotland minister who served in British East Africa (Kenya) from 1907 to 1937. He was known simply as Doctor Arthur to generations of Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterian Church of East Africa</span> Religious organization in East Africa

Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) is a Presbyterian denomination headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. In Kenya, 10% of the population is Presbyterian. It was started by missionaries from Scotland, most notable of whom was Dr John Arthur. It has its headquarters in Nairobi South C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kikuyu, Kenya</span> Town Council in Kiambu County, Kenya

Kikuyu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya, which grew from a settlement of colonial missionaries. The town is located about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of central Nairobi. It is about 20 minutes from Nairobi via a number of routes, including a dual carriage road, and has a railway station on the Mombasa – Malaba Railway Line. The town is named after the Kikuyu/Gĩkũyũ people, the major ethnicity that settled in the area. As of 2019, the total population was 323,881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitui County</span> County in Kenya

Kitui County is a county in the former Eastern Province of Kenya with its capital and largest town being Kitui, although Mwingi is also another major urban centre. The county has a population of 1,136,187. and an area of 30,496 km2. It lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes 37°50 East and 39°0 East.

Konza is a small town in Makueni County, Kenya. It is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Emali is a town located along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway in Kenya straddling the Makueni County and Kajiado County boundaries. It is a popular resting place for truck drivers ferrying goods from the Mombasa port to inland destinations such as Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali and even the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is known as "the town that never sleeps" due to its vibrant night life. The town is inhabited by the Kamba and Maasai tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamulu</span> Neighbourhood in Nairobi

Kamulu is a neighbourhood in Nairobi City County located to the North East of the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD). It borders Joska (Matungulu) in Machakos County to the east, Mwalimu Farm Ruiru to the north, Njiru to the west, and Mihang'o to the south west.

Makindu Airport is an airport in Makindu, Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-Counties of Kenya</span>

Sub-counties, also known as Districts, are the decentralised units through which government of Kenya provides functions and services. At national level, sub-counties take a more administrative function like security, statistical purposes, provision of government services, etc. Even though the sub-counties are divisions of counties, powers to create new national sub-counties lies with the national government. As of 2023, there are 314 sub-counties, compared to 290 constituencies. A deputy county commissioner is appointed by the state to lead each sub-county. The sub-counties are further divided into divisions, locations and sub-locations.

Sarafu-Credit is a community currency system operated in Kenya. It is used by five different communities, all located in informal settlements or slum areas, including small businesses and schools.

The Kibwezi–Kitui–Kandwia–Usueni Road, also B7 Road (Kenya) is a road in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. The road connects the town of Kibwezi in Makueni County to the community of Usueni in Kitui County. Since its upgrading, the road has opened up many villages and rural-urban settings to business and agricultural activities.

The Mombasa–Nairobi Expressway or Nairobi–Mombasa Expressway, also known as the Nairobi–Mombasa Highway, is a proposed four-lane toll highway in Kenya. The highway will link Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya to Mombasa, the largest seaport of the country. The new highway is expected to cut travel times between the two cities from the current 6 to 10 hours to approximately four hours.

The Anglican dioceses of Mombasa are the Anglican presence in and around Mombasa and south-east Kenya; they are part of the Anglican Church of Kenya. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Maseno, of Mount Kenya, and of Nakuru.

References

  1. Central Bureau of Statistics (Kenya): Geographic Dimensions of Well-Being in Kenya
  2. Electoral Commission of Kenya: Registration centres by electoral area and constituency Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Dial M for money. (2007, June 28). The Economist. Retrieved December 6, 2007
  4. "Sagentia - News and events". www.sagentia.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-23.

02°25′00″S37°58′00″E / 2.41667°S 37.96667°E / -2.41667; 37.96667

Masongaleni high school, 124-90136 Nzeeka. A mixed secondary school. The school has a population of 350 students.