Homa Bay County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the former

Nyanza Province Nyanza Province (; ) was one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces before the formation of the 47 counties under the 2010 constitution. Six counties were organised in the area of the former province. The region is located in the southwes ...

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. ...

. Its capital and largest town is

Homa Bay Homa Bay is a town (and eponymous bay) on the south shore of Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in western Kenya. It lies near Mount Homa (in the Luo language ''Got Marahuma'' or ''God Uma'' famous mountain" and Ruma National Park, the latter note ...

. The county has a population of 1,131,950 (2019 census) and an area of 3,154.7 km².

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

is a major source of livelihood for Homa Bay County. It has 40 wards, each represented by an MCA in the Homa Bay county assembly located in Homa Bay town, which is the county headquarters. Homa Bay County has eight sub counties just like the constituencies.

Demographics

Homa Bay County has a total population of 1,131,950 persons, of which 539,560 are males, 592,367 females and 23 intersex persons. It has 262,036 households with an average of 4.3 people per household. The county has a population density of 359 people per square kilometre. Source

Religion

Religion in Homa Bay County

Administrative and political units

Administrative Units

The county has been subdivided into 8 sub-counties with 40 county assembly wards. There are a total of 19 divisions, with 116 locations and 226 sub-locations.

Electoral constituencies

The county has eight electoral constituencies: * Homa Bay Town Constituency * Kabondo Kasipul Constituency *

Karachuonyo Constituency Karachuonyo Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has ...

Kasipul Constituency Kasipul is a constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a population of 1,131,950 ( ...

Suba North Constituency Suba North, formerly known as Mbita Constituency from 1966 to 2013, is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital a ...

Ndhiwa Constituency Ndhiwa Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a pop ...

Rangwe Constituency Rangwe Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a po ...

Suba South Constituency Suba South, formerly Gwasi is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county ...

Political leadership

Gladys Wanga Gladys Atieno Nyasuna Wanga (born 7 March 1981) is a Kenyan politician who is the current Governor of Homa Bay County. She is the first female Governor from the Western Region of the Country and one of the seven female governors elected during t ...

is the current governor after being elected in the 2022 general elections that took place on August 9.

Moses Otieno Kajwang Moses Otieno Kajwang (born 2 February 1979) is the second elected Senator for Homa Bay County in Kenya and a member of the Orange Democratic Movement. He was elected on 12 February 2015 in a by election that was occasioned by the death of his brot ...

’ is the senator and was elected in 2015 in a by - election due to the death of his brother,

Gerald Otieno Kajwang Gerald Otieno Kajwang (July 15, 1955 – November 19, 2014) was a Kenyan politician. He belonged to the Orange Democratic Movement and was elected to represent the Mbita Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya in the December 2007 parli ...

. He retained his seat in the 2017 General elections.

Gladys Atieno Nyasuna Wanga Gladys Atieno Nyasuna Wanga (born 7 March 1981) is a Kenyan politician who is the current Governor of Homa Bay County. She is the first female Governor from the Western Region of the Country and one of the seven female governors elected during t ...

is the second woman representative to hold the office after being elected in 2017.

Members of parliament

Health

There are a total of 206 health facilities across the county of which 144 are public and 62 are private.
Source

Education

The county has 1451 ECD centres of which are 991 public and 460 private. There are 1089 primary schools, 312 secondary schools, 50 youth polytechnic, 2 technical training institutions, 2 university colleges. Source

Transport and communication

The county is covered by road network of 3225 km of which 1840 is covered by earth surface, 1240 km is gravel and 184 km is covered by bitumen. There are 13 postal services with 3,300 installed letter boxes, 1,605 rented letter boxes 1,695 vacant letter boxes.

Trade and commerce

The county grows a variety of agricultural crops based on the ecological zones found in the county. Coffee, sugarcane, maize, beans, tobacco, dairy and fish farming in Rachuonyo subcounty. Maize, millet, pineapples, sorghum, sunflower and tomatoes are grown in Gwasi Hills of Suba. Millet, green grams, tobacco, sugarcane, pineapples, sisal are grown in Ndhiwa, Homa Bay town and Rangwe. Cotton was grown in Rachuonyo and central Mbita before the collapse of the cotton industry. There are efforts that are underway to revive cotton farming across the county. Some of the animals kept in the county include dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, hair goats, dairy goats, meat pigs, rabbit and poultry. The county is also a tourist attraction center because of the mysterious lake found in Karachuonyo constituency, Lake Simbi Nyaima, a little volcanic lake well known for its ancient origins and its undiscovered prehistoric sites that make it a Kenya safari tourist destination of the worldwide interest. The lake is known for seasonal migration of Flamingo birds from Lakes Bogoria, Natron and Nakuru National Park among other lakes from the rift valley.