Nyeri (officially known as Nyeri Municipality) is a town in Kenya, and the administrative headquarters of the country's Central Province[1].
The town is situated about 150 km (a two hour drive) north of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, in the country's densely populated and fertile Central Highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya.
The town's population was 98,908 in Kenya's last official census in 1999 [2], but is estimated to have grown to between 150,000 and 250,000.[3]
Nyeri's Central Business District is small, with only a few buildings being above five stories and one above eight. Its general appearance, owing mostly to lack of sidewalk paving and the basic decoration of its buildings, is dusty and shabby.
It has a relatively low cost of living in comparison to Nairobi and other major towns in Kenya. Located in Kenya's fertile highlands, food and water[4] are plentiful and relatively cheap.[5]
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History
Towards the end of 1902, as the British were establishing their colonial presence, Richard Meinertzhagen marched a strong military column meeting spirited resistance from the native Kikuyu warriors led by Wangombe Wa Ihura. The Kikuyu were eventually defeated [6]. After Meinertzhagen's victory, a decision was reached to site a British post close to a little hill on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Kikuyu called the hill Kia-Nyiri while their Maasai neighbours called the hill Na-aier. The post took its name from the little hill. On 18 December 1902, Nyeri was founded.[6]
Shortly after the establishment of the post, a trickle of European settlers and missionaries and Indian merchants began to migrate into Nyeri and the surrounding areas. The town soon burgeoned into a trading centre for white settler farmers who produced cattle, wheat and coffee. The White Rhino Hotel, Outspan Hotel, and the Aberdare Country Club at nearby Mweiga are relics of those colonial days.[7]
Demographics & culture
The majority of Nyeri residents are black Africans from Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu.[8] The Kikuyu language is therefore widely spoken, along with Kenya's national language, Kiswahili as well as Kenya's official language, English. Black Africans from other Kenyan ethnic groups (most of them being state and private sector employees) make up a small minority, with the rest of the population comprising Kenyans of Asian origin and a small white population.
Religion
Though the depth of belief and dedication to religion varies, most people in Nyeri express belief in God. Following the national pattern of Kenya being a predominantly Christian country [9], Christianity is the main religion. The main Christian denominations are Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Pentecostals and indigenous denominations, in that order. The older residents, who tend to attend the mainstream churches, are invariably more religious than the younger ones. Pentecostal Churches, usually with a cult-like structure led and controlled by a charismatic dominant preacher, mainly attract impressionable younger congregations. Muslims, traditional African believers and Hindus, in declining order, make up a small minority.[10][11]
About 5 km from the Town Centre is the Mathari Mission settlement, a complex of several Catholic buildings and institutions, established by Italian missionaries at the beginning of the 20th century. The mission is composed of convents for nuns, schools, a teacher training college and other vocational colleges. It also hosts the Consolata Hospital and School of Nursing, which is staffed largely by nuns of the Consolata order.[12]
Infrastructure
Nyeri's general infrastructure needs much improvement. The exception is the water infrastructure, with well-distributed clean and safe drinking water being available straight from the tap[4]. Phone and internet services are widely available, generally affordable and reliable, though internet speeds and bandwidth are quite low, and wireless internet hot-spots nonexistent. Electricity provision is also reliable, more so, in fact, than in most of the rest of the country.[citation needed]
Economy
The biggest formal employer in Nyeri, as it is the administrative headquarters of Central Province, is the Government of Kenya. The local Municipal Council and utility providers are also significant employers. The various sectors of the service industry, including retail, hospitality, banking, insurance, the charity industry and professionals also provide jobs.[citation needed]
The main industrial plants are a Coca-Cola bottling plant, a water and fruit juice bottling plant, a number of tea and coffee processing factories, a milk processing and packaging factory owned and run by the Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd, and a number of maize millers. There is also a wide range of largely unsophisticated light industries, including motor vehicle repair garages, electronics repair shops, furniture workshops, tailoring shops, and bakeries.[citation needed]
The main industry in Nyeri is farming[13] ,which is mostly unmechanized.[citation needed] The town area is actually part of the surrounding rural greater Nyeri district, and farms within the municipality blend seamlessly into the rural area. The main cash crops are Coffee and tea, grown mainly by smallholders who are organized into quasi-private state-supported and supervised co-operatives or companies for farm input distribution, basic processing and marketing purposes. The main food crops are Maize, the staple food in most of Kenya, legumes (especially beans and peas), tubers (mainly potatoes), and vegetables (especially tomatoes, cabbage, spinach and kale). Livestock, mainly dairy cattle, goats, sheep, and chicken are also widely kept. Food crop and livestock farming are also done by smallholders, with marketing and distribution of surplus produce (after farmers' own consumption) being done privately.[citation needed]
Tourism is also significant, as there are many tourist destinations nearby, including the Aberdare and Mount Kenya National Parks.[14]
Transportation
Nyeri is served by a reasonably well-maintained tarmac road network connecting it to Nairobi, Nakuru, Nanyuki, Othaya and other surrounding towns.[citation needed] Most transportation of cargo to and from Nyeri is by road, although the town has a largely underutilized railway station at Kiganjo (about six kilometers out of town towards Nanyuki) on the branchline of the railway from Nairobi to Nanyuki, and an Airstrip at Mweiga (about 15 Kilometers out of Town towards Nakuru). The main mode of public passenger transport to, from, and within Nyeri is by way of fourteen-seater minibus taxis (matatus), though un-metered saloon car taxis are also widely used.[citation needed]
Entertainment
Nyeri's main entertainment activity is socialization at the town's many pubs. On a typical weekday evening, all day and night Saturday, or Sunday afternoon,groups of friends of both sexes will sit in pubs, socializing, enjoying alcoholic beverages (mainly bottled Kenyan beer)and meat dishes,watching TV sports,and listening to music.[citation needed] Most of Kenya's terrestrial TV and radio channels, transmitting mainly from Nairobi, are available in Nyeri. Most homes have at least one TV and radio. Foreign TV channels are also available, either relayed by local channels, or via satellite. Several entertainment spots, hotels and homes have satellite TV in addition to local television. DVDS, mostly counterfeit Hollywood movies imported from Asia, are cheaply and widely available for purchase or rental.[citation needed]
Education
The town has one university, Kimathi University College of Technology, which was recently upgraded from a technical college. Various Kenyan public universities and institutes have satellite campuses within the town.[citation needed]
The national state Police Training College is situated in the town. There is a Medical Training College, a government nursing school, two polytechnic colleges, and several private and public secondary and primary schools. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri runs several schools and colleges in Nyeri.
Tourism
In Town
Nyeri is a popular destination for relaxation, business, entertainment, and educational/cultural tourism.[citation needed] Its pubs offer lively entertainment, the farms in and around it offer pristine scenery, and the grave of the scouting Movement's founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell and his paxtu cottage are popular attractions.
The Italian War Memorial Chapel, located at Mathari,was built in honor of the fallen Italian soldiers and their African recruits from the Second World War. It is used not for regular worship, but only to celebrate a special mass on every 2 September in memory of the fallen soldiers.[citation needed] On the entire walling of the main church building are memorials for the many Italian servicemen who died during WWII. Each memorial is in the form of a small oblong plaque indicating the name of the soldier, the battalion he served in, and the place where he died. At the far front before the altar is the grave of a senior Italian army officer.[citation needed]
Mount Kenya
The most imposing landmark around Nyeri is Mount Kenya, and starting from about twenty kilometers out of town is the Mount Kenya National Park[21]. Mount Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano lying strategically astride the Equator .The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m)[15].It is the highest mountain in the country and the second, after Kilimanjaro, in Africa. It has two main snow covered peaks, Batian and Nelion.[16].
Its slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Its U-shaped glacial valleys, rugged snow capped peaks, Afro-alpine desert, thirty lakes and eight different natural forest types and a variety of wildlife species make it a convergence of natural attractions. The wildlife found in the park include giant forest hog, tree hyrax, white tailed mongoose, black leopard, bongo, elephant, black rhino, suni, black fronted duiker, mole-rat and over 130 species of birds.[17][18]
Activities carried out in the park include game drives, nature walks, mountain climbing, wildlife viewing, camping and cave exploration[19].
The Aberdares
About fifteen Kilometers out of town on the opposite side to Mt. Kenya is the Aberdare National Park[22].
The Aberdares is an older volcanic mountain range with shorter peaks due to longer erosion. It offers views of Mount Kenya and the Great Rift Valley [20].
Its unusual vegetation, rugged terrain, deep ravines cutting through its forested eastern and western slopes, clear water streams and waterfalls combine to create an area of great scenic beauty.[20][21] Its major attractions include the Lesatima and Kinangop peaks and many waterfalls, including the magnificent Karuru falls which drop 272 meters [22], and the Gura Falls which drop 305 meters [23][24].
The park is home to many endangered species including the rare bongo, giant forest hog, packs of the now very rare wild dogs, and endemic mole-rat and mole shrew. Other game include a large population of black rhino, leopard servile, endemic bird species, reptiles and insects.[20][21]
Activities include game drives and nature walks. Both brown and rainbow trout abound in the cool mountain streams and provide excellent angling. Within the Park, the Ark and the Treetops Lodges, which are located next to watering holes, offer close proximity night game viewing[25]. It was at Treetops Lodge that Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) was advised of the passing of her father while on a honeymoon retreat, and her own ascent to the throne.[26] The park is also known for the Kimathi hideouts, the Mau Mau Caves, and the Kimathi “post office” where agents used to drop messages for Mau Mau fighters during the guerrilla wars for Kenyan independence.[27]
Private ranches
Close to town are several privately owned ranches, many of which also serve as private wildlife sanctuaries[28] where many higher-end tourists, including celebrities[29], have spent holidays.[30]
Administration and Government
Central Government
Provincial Administration: The Provincial Commissioner (PC) of Central Province is based in Nyeri [31]. Under him is the District Commissioner, Nyeri Central District (DC)[32], the Divisional Officers (DO), the Locational Chiefs and the Assistant Chiefs.
Government Departments: Various Central Provincial and Nyeri Central District departments of the various ministries of the Government of Kenya[33], and central provincial offices of several Kenya Government departments and State Corporations are based in Nyeri.
Security: The Central Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of the Kenya Police Force, and under him, as one of the police divisional heads, the Nyeri Divisional Police Commander (OCPD)are based in Nyeri [34].
Local Government
Nyeri is administered as a "Municipality" (a large town yet to attain "City" status) by the elected Municipal Council of Nyeri comprising of elected and nominated Councilors led by a Mayor and administered by a central government appointed Town Clerk and other Chief Officers. The Council is based at the Nyeri Town Hall.
Parliamentary representation
Nyeri Municipality is a Parliamentary constituency known as Nyeri Town Constituency represented in Parliament by an elected Member of Parliament.
People
A number of renowned people have hailed from around Nyeri:
- Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize winner, 2004)
- Mwai Kibaki (Kenya's current president)
- Dedan Kimathi (a Mau Mau resistance leader)
- Catherine Ndereba (Olympic marathon Silver Medalist, world marathon champion, four time Boston Marathon winner and multiple time winner of Chicago and other marathons).
Nyeri is the burial place of Lord Robert Baden-Powell [23], a fighter in the Boer War and the founder of the Scouting movement, who once wrote "the nearer to Nyeri the nearer to bliss". He and his wife are buried in the town cemetery, along with legendary hunter/conservationist Jim Corbett, the author of Maneaters of Kumaon (1944) who also spent his final years in Kenya. Baden-Powell's Paxtu cottage, now a small museum, stands on the grounds of the Outspan Hotel.
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Population of Local Authorities" (with towns), Government of Kenya, 1999, webpage: Govt Kenya-Population-PDF
- ^ 2005 population estimates for cities in Kenya
- ^ a b [2]
- ^ Business Daily
- ^ a b S. Wachira, S. Muteithia Kibira, Nyeri Showcase, Acken media, Nairobi, 2004; p. 18
- ^ Michael Hodd "East Africa handbook: the travel guide"
- ^ Kenya Information Guide
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ Mathari satellite Photo
- ^ [6]
- ^ Kenya Wildlife Service List
- ^ [7]
- ^ Kenya Wildlife Service - Mount Kenya National Park
- ^ Kenya Wildlife Service
- ^ [8]
- ^ See For instance
- ^ a b c Kenya Wildlife Service
- ^ a b Michael Hodd "East Africa handbook: the travel guide" Pages 127-130 ISBN 1900949652 9781900949651
- ^ World Waterfall Database
- ^ world Waterfall Database
- ^ Michael Hodd "East Africa handbook: the travel guide" Page 131 ISBN 1900949652 9781900949651
- ^ [9]
- ^ Kenya Tourist Board: KENYA’S CROWNING GLORY
- ^ [10]
- ^ See For Instance
- ^ For Instance Prince William [11] Bill Gates[12]
- ^ See For Instance: [13][14] [15] [16]
- ^ [17]
- ^ [18]
- ^ [19]
- ^ [20]
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Coordinates: 00°25′S 36°57′E / 0.417°S 36.95°E
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