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Kirinyaga County borders Nyeri County, Murang’a County and Embu County.It covers an area of 1,478.1 square kilometers. The county lies between 1,158 metres and 5,380 metres above sea level in the South and at the Peak of Mt. Kenya respectively. Mt. Kenya which lies on the northern side greatly influences the landscape of the county as well as other topographical features.
The snow melting from the mountain forms the water tower for the rivers that drain in the county and other areas that lie south and west of the county. The county can be divided into three ecological zones; the lowland areas, the midland areas and the highlands. The county is well endowed with a thick, indigenous forest with unique types of trees covering Mt. Kenya. Mt. Kenya Forest covers 350.7 Km2 and is inhabited by a variety of wildlife including elephants, buffaloes, monkeys, bushbucks and colourful birds while the lower parts of the forest zone provides grazing land for livestock.
The rich flora and fauna within the forest coupled with mountain climbing are a great potential for tourist activities. The county has six major rivers namely; Sagana, Nyamindi, Rupingazi, Thiba, Rwamuthambi and Ragati, all of which drain into the Tana River. These rivers are the principal source of water in the county. The water from these rivers has been harnessed through canals to support irrigation at the lower zones of the county.
The county has a tropical climate and an equatorial rainfall pattern. The climatic condition is influenced by the county position along the equator and its position on the windward side of Mt Kenya. The county has two rainy seasons, the long rains and the short rains. Administratively, the county is divided into five districts namely; Kirinyaga East, Kirinyaga West, Mwea East, Mwea West and Kirinyaga Central. The districts are subdivided further into 12 divisions, 30 locations and 81 sub-locations.The county has four constituencies namely Mwea, Ndia, Kirinyaga Central and Gichugu. Kirinyaga County has twenty (20) wards.
From the Kenya Population and Housing Census 2009 report, the population of the county stood at 528,054 persons with an annual growth rate of 1.5 percent. The population is projected to be 595, 379 in 2017. Kerugoya, Sagana and Wang’uru are the only towns in the County while Kagio and Kagumo comprise the urban centres. The town with the highest population is Wang’uru with a population of 18,437; followed by Kerugoya with a population of 17,122; the least populated town is Sagana with a population of 10,344. The urban centre with the highest population is Kagio with a population of 3,512 followed closely by Kagumo with a population of 3,489. The population of Wang’uru is highest because it has a lot of economic activities, mainly rice farming while Kerugoya town had long been the District administrative headquarters.
The total road network of in the county is 1,109.11 Km, out of which 106.5 Km is bitumen, 462.05 Km is gravel and 540.5 Km is earth surfaced roads. The county has an established road network with 7 tarmac roads passing through it namely Makutano – Embu road, Kutus – Karatina road, Baricho road, Kiburu road, Kutus – Sagana road, Kutus – Kianyaga road and Kabare – Kimunye road. There is only a 5km of railway line and one railway station in the county located in Ndia Constituency but currently not in use.
There is one airstrip located in Mwea constituency.
The mobile phone coverage stands at 99 percent while the number of fixed lines stands at 693 units. There are 5 sub- post offices and 14 cyber-cafes. There is also an increase in the usage of computers and internet in government offices, private businesses and homes due to availability portable modems and affordability of computers and laptops.
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BY KENYA INVESTMENT AUTHORITY Overview of the Project Summary Kirinyaga County comprises of four Sub-counties which are; Gichugu, Mwea, Kirinyaga Central and Kirinyaga West. The Ministry of Transport, Roads and Public Works is a department of County Government of Kirinyaga that handles both transport and infrastructural issues. In this regard, the department is mandated with provision of access and mobility to motorized and non-motorized traffic and pedestrians in the entire County. Under the mandate of the county government is the construction and maintenance of a road network that is defined as class D and below by the Fourth schedule of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010....
Governor's Message
"There are few places that are as spectacular as Kirinyaga.A beautiful mountain,amazing weather,wonderful and industrious people. Kirinyaga County is an academic giant having emerged the top county in recent years.Kirinyaga County is an agricultural county.In my immediate plans are issues that can be attended to with minimum financial resources and still have a great impact on the social-economic welfare of our people.
As a county, we are working towards promoting agricultural activities with a view to having a more modernized, competitive and sustainable agriculture. We are engaging in intensive and extensive farming and establishing industries that are of strategic value to our county in line with our agricultural wealth
My government is setting up a fund, which could be utilised to lend money to farmers for the purpose of buying dairy animals. We are also inviting investors to start full-fledged factories in our county, where we will do everything ourselves from harvesting through to processing and packaging including branding our products and directly marketing. The same should be done for all our agricultural produce including our tea,coffee,french beans, tomatoes, fruits and even our dairy products. We need to sell our finished products directly to the customer locally, regionally and internationally in Europe, China and Japan, among others. Our products will, therefore, have to be up to international standards.
As we do all this, we need to improve the incomes of small-scale farmers in the county by improving our market outlets in Kagio, Kutus, Sagana and Wang’uru. Once these markets have been improved, it will be possible for buyers from Nairobi and other places to pick our produce from these centres due to improved road networks. This will make it possible for the upcoming middle-class families to buy their produce from these markets, including the growing demand from the newly created university college at Kutus. The demand for cotton in the world market is unlimited and we need to make every effort to revive cotton growing as a means of improving the incomes of the local farmers.
Indeed, Kirinyaga is endowed with great potential for a thriving business climate, which can attract new capital, and new investments, which in turn can foster the creation of new jobs and retain existing jobs. Hence, the need for my government to establish a framework that nurtures a business climate and supports entrepreneurs and wealth creators. We need to review or establish policies that can enable us to unlock the full enterprise potential of our county and clean our towns and markets. If we are going to lay the foundation for long-term prosperity and job creation and growth, we must not overlook the importance of education. We are working hand in hand with the National Government, specifically the ministry of Education, to address the shortcomings in our schools and colleges to improve educational performance across our county."
"It is my government’s responsibility to ensure that the county’s health facilities are adequately equipped to handle health issues affecting our people. The issue of unemployment is a serious challenge in our county and contributes to social challenges such as abuse of alcohol by our youth, incidents of insecurity and poor sanitation, among others. My county government is addressing all these issues by making efforts to convert young people into job creators instead of job seekers."