18-600: The Kathita River is a river in eastern Kenya is the longest river in Meru . The river flows in a north-easterly direction from a source high on Mount Kenya around Ithangune and Rutundu hills from where it flows easterly through thick equatorial rainforests towards Meru Town, and in a southeasterly direction into River Tana. It is the northernmost of the Mt. Kenya tributaries of the Tana River . Unlike many other rivers tracing their source on
36-494: Is a total of 460 health facilities, 995 hospital beds and 73 cots in the county, staffed by 1325 health personnel. HIV prevalence rate was 2.9% in 2017, lower than the national rate of 5.9%. The county is covered by 1,260 km of road network. Of this, 767.5 km is covered by earth surface, 266.7 km is marram surface and 225.7 km of surface is covered by bitumen. During the rainy seasons, some sections of gravel and earth surface roads are impassable. The county
54-528: Is served by one airstrip; Gaitu airstrip in Meru Central. There are six post offices and four sub-post offices with 7,600 installed letter boxes, 5,937 rented letter boxes, and 1,663 vacant letter boxes with numerous registered stamp vendors in the county. The six post offices are located in Meru , Maua , Nkubu , Timau , Muthara and Laare . They offer mail services, parcel delivery and other services. Most private and public organizations have embraced ICT in
72-455: Is the leading county in agricultural production contributing 7.6% to Kenya's agricultural production. Agriculture is the main economic activity due to rich Volcanic soils in high altitude areas. Meru County is the leading County in Kenya by Horticultural production of Coffee, tea, French-beans and dairy products. Wholesale and retail trade also play an important role in the county's economy. It's
90-529: The Kenyan moor land, the Kathita River is unique as it is formed by the melting glaciers on the peaks of Mount Kenya. Hence the reason why its water is very cold at all seasons, even the piped water from this river is this distinct in this attribute of being cold. The Kathita follows a meandering course skirting through the small village towns of Kithaku , Katheri , Kaing'inyo , Gitimbene and finally cuts through
108-672: The Leading County that produces Miraa (Khat) for export and hence boosting the economic national grid. Meru town is the largest and main financial hub of Meru County. Mount Kenya (now politically divided between Meru and other counties) has been influenced by the climate of the coast, especially the eastern slopes of the mountain with altitude ranges from 300m to 5,199m above sea level. Many rivers have their streams originating from Mount Kenya and Nyambene streams. Tana and Ewaso Nyiro Rivers are used for domestic and agricultural use. When Kenya replaced its provinces with counties, Meru County
126-445: The day-to-day operations. Private entrepreneurs have continued to set up cyber cafes in major towns and trading centers due to high demand for internet services among others. Most of the areas in the county are covered by mobile phone network with the coverage being 95 per cent. Areas without mobile network coverage are mainly areas of Tigania bordering Isiolo County. Most of the community members rely on radio, television and newspapers as
144-497: The deep gorge. It is the largest river in the Imenti region of Meru County and the site of Meru people rites and rituals, including the initiation of boys into adulthood. Between 2008 and 2010, the community participated in the development of a micro-hydro generator on a portion of the river. Meru County Meru County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya located in the former Eastern Province . It borders Isiolo County to
162-600: The heart of the Meru Town Meru . Kathita river has got a unique attribute in that its watercourse runs through deep gorges, due to this engineering works for water irrigation projects on Kathita river is very costly.Nevertheless, local residents, through community Self Help projects, have always found ways to draw water for domestic use and irrigation Examples include the Nduruma Water Project in Kianthumbi village that
180-589: The major sources of information. In 1992, Meru District was split into Meru Central District, Meru North District , Meru South District , and Tharaka District In 1998, Tharaka District was again split into Nithi District and Tharaka District. A High Court decision in September 2009 ruled that the split had been unconstitutional, and the first two of these were re-amalgamated into Meru District, which became Meru County in 2010. Eastern Province (Kenya) The Eastern Province ( Swahili : Mashariki ) of Kenya
198-536: The north, Tharaka-Nithi County to the South, Nyeri County to the southwest and Laikipia County to the west. Meru County has a population of 1.35 million people. It is home to the Meru people . The county headquarters are in Meru . The current governor of Meru County is Kawira Mwangaza of the Kenya Kwanza coalition. Meru County is the 5th largest economy in Kenya with a GDP of $ 3.48B and $ 9.48B (PPP). Meru County
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#1732859057551216-538: The political wrangles in the Kenyan coalition government at the time. The sub-division of provinces was carried out in seven provinces of Kenya , excluding Nairobi . As of March 2013 after the Kenyan general election, 2013 , the Eastern Province was subdivided into eight counties, namely: The province was principally inhabited by the Meru , Kamba , Embu , and several pastoralist communities. In 1979, its population
234-540: Was Peter Munya , elected in the 2013 election . In the 2017 election , Kiraitu Murungi defeated Munya to become the second governor. The third and current governor, Kawira Mwangaza , was elected in the 2022 election . Murungi was elected in 2013 to be the senator from Meru County. When he ran for governor, Franklin Linturi was elected to the Senate. Florence Kajuju was the county's first woman representative . She
252-472: Was 2.7 million; in 1999, 4,631,779 (according to the 1999 census) and in 2009 the province would have had a population of 5,668,123. In terms of area, it was the second largest province at (140,698.6 km ) in Kenya. Eastern Province of Kenya includes the Chalbi Desert , Mount Kenya , and the eastern half of Lake Turkana . The climate in the region is arid to semi-arid. Its most important permanent river
270-966: Was created out of the Eastern Province . It covers a total area of 7,006 km out of which 972.3 km is gazetted as forest. Annual rainfall ranges between 300 mm annually in the lower midlands to 2500 mm in the southeast. Long rains fall from mid-March to May and short rains are present from October to December. As of the 2019 census, the county has a total population of 987,653 of which 489,691 are males, 497,942 females and 20 intersex persons. There are 244,669 households with an average household size of 4.0 persons per household. Religion in Meru County Meru County has nine sub counties, thirty five divisions, one hundred and sixty one locations and three hundred and eighty six sub-locations. It has nine constituencies and forty five county assembly wards. The first governor of Meru County
288-494: Was defeated in 2017 by Kawira Mwangaza . The Meru County Executive Committee comprises: Source There are 1,437 ECD centres, 1,030 primary schools and 372 secondary schools. The county has also 7 tertiary institutions, 6 special schools 7,483 adult education centres and 7 university campuses. Meru University of Science and Technology and Meru National Polytechnic are the largest education centers in Meru County. There
306-845: Was initiated by Mr Japhet MÍkiara and completed in 1997 with the financial contribution and active participation of fellow Kianthumbi residents. An extended project, the Gakumbo project that serves a larger population, was made possible with a grant from the Australian government. In the olden days the Ameru had unique log bridges which were used to cross the Kathita river along its deep gorged course. Many of those log bridges are still in operation. Some community Groups, like that at Kianthumbi village,however, have managed to upgrade them to modern standards of cement and steel structures so as to enhance safety and access across
324-619: Was one of 8 Provinces of Kenya . Its northern boundary ran along with that of Ethiopia ; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lay to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province , ran along its western border. The provincial capital was Embu . On 16 July 2009, the province was sub-divided into three: Lower Eastern with Machakos as headquarters, Central Eastern with Meru as headquarters, and Upper Eastern with Marsabit as headquarters; however, those changes never took effect due to
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