West Pokot District , formerly known as West Suk or Kacheliba District , was an administrative district in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya . Its capital town was Kapenguria .
8-566: Kapenguria is a town in Kenya. It is the capital and largest urban center of West Pokot County . The town lies north east of Kitale on the A1 road along Kitale-Lodwar road in north Western Kenya . Kapenguria forms a municipality with a population of 40,751 as per the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census. Kapenguria constituency has six wards namely (Kapenguria, Mnagei, Siyoi, Riwo, Endugh and Sook). All of them belong to West Pokot county, which has
16-512: A combine population of 512,690. The three districts also had a population that was predominantly considered rural with whole population of Pokot Central and Pokot North being rural, and the population 138,367 of 181,063 in West Pokot District considered rural. In 2010, after the promulgation of the new constitution of Kenya , counties were to be created based on the districts of Kenya that existed as at 1992. This effectively led to
24-428: A total of 20 wards. With Kapenguria being the administrative headquarters of West Pokot county, the county and national governments constitute the largest employers. The various sectors of the service industry such as financial services, small-scale retail, hospitality, charity organisations, religious bodies and professionals comprise the other major significant employers. Financial institutions which have branches in
32-566: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . West Pokot District Before the transfer of portions of Uganda to British East Africa in 1902, the area that formed West Suk District, also known as West Pokot District, was initially administered as part of Baringo District . Upon the transfer the West Pokot was combined with South Turkana District to form Turkana District of Naivasha Province. In 1918, South Turkana came into direct military administration and West Suk (West Pokot)
40-568: The University of Nairobi as well as Kisii University. Other tertiary institution located within the town include, a Kenya Medical Training College, West Pokot Teachers Training College and Pokot Technical Training Center among others. The town hosts the Kapenguria County Referral Hospital which is the main health facility in West Pokot county. Kapenguria is the home of Tegla Loroupe , world-record-holder in
48-541: The marathon, half-marathon, 20,000-metre, 15,000-metre and 10,000-metre races. She holds annual Peace Race races here, to bring peace among the eight tribes in the West Pokot area. This is also the location of the Tegla Loroupe Peace Academy , founded to provide education to orphans from the tribal wars. 1°14′N 35°07′E / 1.233°N 35.117°E / 1.233; 35.117 This Rift Valley Province location article
56-550: The town include Cooperative Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank, Absa Bank and Post Bank. The Saiwa Swamp National Park is located some 25 kilometres south of Kapenguria off the road to Kitale. Kapenguria is home to the Kapenguria museum in the prison where Jomo Kenyatta was incarcerated in 1953 for his alleged role in the Mau Mau Rebellion . Kapenguria town is a local educational hub with campuses of
64-527: Was established as a district of Naivasha Province, then Kerio Province in 1921, and under the newly created Turkana Province from 1929. In 1941, West Suk was transferred to Rift Valley Province, and administered jointly with Trans Nzoia District . In 1942, they were separated and West Pokot administered from Kapenguria . West Pokot District was one of the districts of Kenya, 1963. By 2005, West Pokot had been split into three; with two smaller additional districts of Pokot North and Pokot Central. The district's had
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