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Limuru is a town in central
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. ...
. It serves as both a parliamentary constituency and an administrative division. As of 2004, the town's population was approximately 4,800, which significantly increased to 159,314 by the 2019 census.


Location

Limuru is a town located on the eastern edge 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 ...
about , by road, northwest of
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
. The geographical coordinates of Limuru town are:1°06'28.0"S, 36°38'34.0"E (Latitude:-1.107778; Longitude:36.642778).


History

The native language of most people in Limuru is
Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...
, with
Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
also widely used. Historically, Limuru served as the capital of Kiambu West District, which was part of the larger
Kiambu District Kiambu District was an administrative district in the Central Province of Kenya. Its capital town was Kiambu. The district was adjacent to the northern border of Nairobi and had a population of 744,010. Created during the colonial era, it underw ...
. It is now a sub county in Kiambu County and also the name of a parliament constituency. Limuru encompasses areas previously known as the "
white highlands The White Highlands is an area in the central uplands of Kenya. It was traditionally the homeland of indigenous Central Kenyan communities up to the colonial period, when it became the centre of European settlement in colonial Kenya, and between ...
," a rich agricultural land south of the equator. The term "white highlands" derived from the British and other Europeans who realised the productive potential of this area and settled in large numbers with the support of the colonial government, establishing coffee and tea plantations, cereal farms and ranches. The town is at an altitude of about 2,500 meters and experiences temperature of 10–28 °C (75 °F) year round. There is a railway station in Limuru town.


Industry

Limuru is a key area of tea production and processing, with major factories such as Karirana Tea Estates and Mabroukie Teas Estates on the outskirts of the town.The tea plantations established around Limuru from 1903 onwards were the foundation of Kenya's tea industry. The town is also home to the BATA shoe company, the largest shoe factory in East and Central Africa. In recent years, more companies have established themselves in the town, including Procter and Allan, polypipes and Fruit 'n' Juice. The Nest Children's Home, which offers care services for children whose mothers are imprisoned, is located in Limuru town. Limuru has a rich history tied with the railway, the tea industry (especially with major expansion from the 1920s), and the Bata shoe factory and head office. The town also serves as a milk processing zone obtained from the small-scale dairy farming in the surrounding area.


People

Limuru residents rely mostly on farming and a shoe factory for employment. Early in the British colonial period (from the 1890s) Europeans settled in the area due to its proximity to Nairobi, the railway, its fertile land and pleasant weather. It is the birthplace of the African writer,
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5January 193828May 2025) was a Kenyan author and academic, who has been described as East Africa's leading novelist and an important figure in modern African literature. Ngũgĩ wrote primarily in Eng ...
, as well as that of Bishop
Caesar Gatimu The Right Reverend Caesar Gatimu (18 May 1921 – 20 February 1987) was a Roman Catholic prelate in Kenya, who served as Bishop of the Diocese of Nyeri from 1964 until his retirement in 1987. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of Nyeri fr ...
and human rights and political activist Percy Faith Fawaki (Zartaj).


Health care

Limuru town is served by the government-run ''Limuru Health Center'' which is located within the town limits. Other health facilities serving Limuru residents include Rwamburi Dispensary, Rironi Dispensary, Thigio Dispensary, Ndeiya Health Center and Ngecha Health Center. Tigoni District Hospital is the main government hospital and serves as the link facility between the rural health facilities and the main National referral hospital. Health care has seen an improvement in quality of services with the collaboration of other stakeholders. Services such as cervical cancer screening by VIA/VILLI is available at all government run facilities in Limuru. The nurses working in these clinics also conduct outreach programs to ensure more women are screened. Uptake of long-term contraceptive methods such as implants and IUCDs has also improved due to intensive community education and outreach programs undertaken by the staff working in the various government health facilities. It is for this reason that ''Ndeiya Health Center'' was confirmed the center of excellence in addressing family planning and
cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...
screening in
East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...
. Ndeiya Health Center has mentored other health facilities in the area including Rwamburi Dispensary with an aim of replicating the success in the same. Constituency development fund has funded the construction of three rural facilities in the area. These are: Rwamburi Dispensary, Rironi Dispensary and Ngecha Health Center. Also, there are several private hospitals in Limuru. Community strategy has been implemented in the area and community units such as Ndiuni community unit has been conducting various community health activities. These community units are linked to their respective health facilities where they refer patients.


Recent developments

Due to its proximity to Nairobi and its location on the main highway linking Nairobi to other towns like
Naivasha Naivasha is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya, north west of Nairobi. From 1969, the population expanded by a factor of 17 times to over 355,383 at the 2019 census. It is situated on the shores of Lake Naivasha, from which it takes its name. The ...
,
Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...
and
Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...
, Limuru is attracting investors and businesses. In July 2014, developers of a new shopping mall broke ground. This will be the first mall in the town.
Tuskys Tuskys (formerly Tusker Mattress) was a Kenyan supermarket chain. It was one of the largest supermarket chains in the Great Lakes Area. It employed nearly 6,150 people — over 6,000 in Kenya and 150 in Uganda. Location The head office of Tus ...
, the number two supermarket chain in Kenya by sales, will be the anchor tenant, taking up about 50% of the rental space. The development is expected to cost KSh650 million (approx. US$7.5 million) to construct, and is expected to be ready during the second half of 2018. The number three supermarket chain in the country, naivas together with Society Stores have opened new stores in Limuru during the year 2016 & 2017 respectively. The new supermarkets will join others such as ''Cleanshelf'', the then major supermarket in the town, as at January 2015. The Great Kenyan Bake Off, the Kenyan version of
The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...
, was filmed at Limuru.


See also

*
Karambaini Karambaini is a village located at Limuru East Ward, Kiambu County, 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 ...


References


External links


Investors Flocking Limuru Town, Says MP
{{Authority control Kiambu County Populated places in Central Province (Kenya)