Kapedo is a trading center in the Turkana East sub-county of Turkana County, in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
's former
Rift Valley Province
Rift Valley Province () of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the 2013 Kenyan general election.
Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces in Kenya. It was dominated ...
. It is a 5-hour drive from Nakuru town.
Administratively, it is headed by a chief (National Government), to be assisted by a village administrator (recruited by the County Government of Turkana).
The village lies to the West of
Mount Silale on the floor of the
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley () is a series of contiguous geographic depressions, approximately 6,000 or in total length, the definition varying between sources, that runs from the southern Turkish Hatay Province in Asia, through the Red Sea, to Moz ...
at the head of the
Suguta Valley
The Suguta Valley, also known as the Suguta Mud Flats, is an arid part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya (Africa), directly south of Lake Turkana.
Location
The Suguta valley today is one of the driest parts of Kenya, with annual rainfall below ...
.
The
Suguta River
The Suguta River is a seasonal river in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Great Rift Valley in Kenya (Africa), directly south of Lake Turkana.
It flows northward through the Suguta Valley in the rainy season, forming the temporary Lake Alablad, a dry ...
emanates from hot springs just east of the village, and is joined by the Suguta River flowing from the West and drains to the North.
The village, occupied by Turkana people, is in a hot semi-desert area. Most houses are semi-permanent, made of iron sheets on the roof and mud on the walls. There are also houses made of mud and palm leaves. However, due to the prospective LAPPSET, the village has a number of permanent houses.
Kapedo is a trading center with a few shops selling basic goods such as flour, tea, sugar and kerosene.
There is very little agricultural land, so the people mainly depend on raising goats, and sheep.
Conflicts create risk in herding.
The village is home to four learning institutions: Kapedo Mixed Boarding Primary School, Kapedo Girls Primary School, Lomelo Primary and the Kapedo Mixed Secondary School, which was built by the late former MP Francis Ewoton Achuka in 2002 and has a staff of eight, mostly BOM teachers over 180 pupils. The capacity of the school is much higher but few students can afford even the modest fees.
As of 2011, the Kapedo Sub-County Hospital had 28 beds and four cots. It provided in-patient and out-patient services related to maternity, HIV and tuberculosis. Insecurity from the neighboring Pokot has rendered the facility an in-patient only and emergency cases are referred to Nakuru or Eldoret.
Kapedo has high potential but it is limited mostly due to the defunct hydro-electric power plant that has been desolate for years since the departure of the Finnish missionaries. The 'mission' coined for the Kapedo Mixed Primary School, Hospital, Full Gospel Church, the garage and the guest house were heavily hit after the redundancy of the HEP project.
Due to insecurity from the neighboring Pokot community from Tiaty sub-county in Baringo county, and being a border village, Kapedo is a host to a platoon of the General Service Unit and an Administration Police camp.
References
{{Reflist2. Tryon, Christian; Roach, Neil, & Amelia Logan
2008 The Middle Stone Age of the northern Kenyan Rift: age and context of new archaeological sites from the Kapedo Tuffs. Journal of Human Evolution 55:652-664. pdf
Populated places in Turkana County