Kitui District is an administrative district

Districts of Kenya

The provinces of Kenya are subdivided into number of districts .- List of districts of Kenya :Following a High Court ruling in September 2009, there are 46 legal districts in Kenya :Coast Province:...

 in the Eastern Province

Eastern Province (Kenya)

The Eastern Province of Kenya is one of seven regions of the country. Its northern boundary is with Ethiopia; the North Eastern Province and Coast Province lie to the east and south; and the remainder of Kenya's provinces, including Central Province, run along its western border. The provincial...

 of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. Its capital town is Kitui

Kitui

Kitui is a town in Kenya, 130 kilometers east of Nairobi and 75 kilometers east of Machakos. It used to be the capital of the Kitui District in Eastern Province of Kenya. Due to political reforms, Kitui is now the headquarters of Kitui County, which covers a larger area than the former district did...

. The district has a population of 515,422 (1999 census) and an area of 20,402 km² http://www.statoids.com/yke.html.

Government

The district has two local authorities: Kitui municipality and Kitui county council.

Kitui district is divided into eight administrative divisions: Central (Kitui), Kabati, Chuluni, Mutitu, Mwitika, Mutomo (Ikanga

Ikanga

Ikanga in is a village Kitui District, Kenya. It is located 50 kilometres south of Kitui town along the B7 road between Kitui and Kibwezi. Ikanga forms a wad in the Kitui South Constituency and Kitui County Council....

), Ikutha and Yatta.

The district has four constituencies:

• Kitui West Constituency
  Kitui West Constituency
  Kitui West Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kitui District. The constituency was established for the 1966 elections.- Members of Parliament :- Wards :...
  
  
• Kitui Central Constituency
  Kitui Central Constituency
  Kitui Central Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kitui District. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections.- Members of Parliament :- Wards :...
  
  
• Kitui South Constituency
  Kitui South Constituency
  Kitui South Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kitui District. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. At the 1988 and 1992 elections it was known as Mutomo Constituency. The constituency has six wards, all electing councillors...
  
  
• Mutito Constituency
  Mutito Constituency
  Mutito Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kitui District. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections. The constituency has seven wards, all electing councillors for the Kitui County Council....
  
  

Climate

The climate is semi-arid; it receives roughly 71 cm (28 inches). A significant point however is that rainfall occurs practically only during the rainy seasons (one long around May and June, and one short, around September and October).

Education

There are some private secondary schools in the area, however, there are no technical centers of higher learning (known to this editor) in Kitui District.
recently kenyatta university has established a campus(kitui) campus in the town

Economy

The vast majority of the economy is based on sustenance farming, despite the fact that the agriculture is an extremely challenging endeavor giving the sporadic rainfall. A logical move therefore would be a transition to non-agricultural industries.

During a recent, informal survey of the businesses in the town of Ikutha in southern Kitui District, the following businesses were identified:

• Butcheries
• Food Staples (rice, corn meal)
• Mini-markets (sells things like Coca-cola, potatoes chips, bread, long-shelf milk)
• Mechanics
• Pubs
• Hotel and Restaurant

External links

• http://www.aridland.go.ke/districts.asp?DistrictID=16
• http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2006/govt-ken-kitui-31jul.pdf

Industries

Situated in Kitui town is a cotton ginnery where cotton farmers from around the district can deliver their harvest. It is the only major industry in the region, and was set up way back in 1935. Kitui is a semi-arid region and not many crops fare well there apart from cotton, hence the Ginnery plays a major role creating income for the many cotton farmers in the region.