Welcome to the tiny land of plenty

Kisii is the land of tea, bananas, sugar cane, the white gold mined as soapstone and entrepreneurship.

Densely populated, it is also the Land of Plenty where food is available throughout the year.

Whenever there is hunger in other places like Machakos, Makueni and northern Kenya, Kisii is the county where hunger is not in the vocabulary in spite of pressure on the land.

The limited acres, thanks to fertile soils, are cultivated throughout the year providing food to the 1.3 million locals with a surplus that is sold as far away as Kisumu and Nairobi.

It is the land of entrepreneurs who make their fortunes from within and the Diaspora. Prof Oeri Tumbo, one of the sons of the county, has an explanation for the business orientation of the Gusii people:

“We have been forced into it by nature. Pressure on the land makes us go to seek property elsewhere and those who remain behind have to be innovative to survive,” he said.

Found everywhere

Indeed, the Gusii are to be found everywhere in Kenya and wherever they go they establish thriving businesses.

Unlike in other towns throughout Kenya, business in Kisii is run and controlled by the Gusii themselves.

Soapstone, mined at Tabaka, 40 kilometres east of Kisii Town has become the identity of the Gusii.

The treasured stone is known all over the world for the carvings which are sold locally as well as exported to many countries including Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India and the US.

When nature had completed moulding the Earth, it is as though God sat down with a mallet and chisel to sculpt Kisii County into attractive valleys, hills and ridges making it the Switzerland of Africa. The picturesque scenery has the potential to become a tourist circuit in the new county.

Tarmacked roads meander around the ridges and through the valleys. Snaking bends, steep climbs and headlong rushes downhill make any drive an expedition.

And in Kisii, there are very few stretches of road on which one can exceed 40 kph, with winding roads imposing their own informal limit of around 30kph.

Looking down on the Kisii landscape from a strategic point high on a hill reveals a cluster of silvery dots —the houses roofed with steel that resemble a galaxy of stars.

The people who live in those houses farm up to and even on top of the many hills and ridges, leaving no space for idle land. For here Mother Nature created a county without the granite outcrops that exist in other hilly counties like Vihiga.

In Kisii, the hills and ridges are of basalt and sandstone which blend well with soil and help to hold it, even during rain storms, making this a fertile land.

All families carry out small scale farming of either  tea or maize. And each homestead also has stems of bananas, which have high yields.

Keumbu is the heartland for bananas where traders from as far as Nairobi go to fetch the supplies.

Suneka, a one-street town about 20 kilometres east of Kisii Town, has an airstrip used by dignitaries who visit the area.

The population depends on the farm produce sold on roadsides and in the many market places.

Small-scale tea farmers sell to three factories; at Rianyamwamu, Kenyerere and Tendere.

A Tarmac loop from Kisii Town, through  Ogembo to Nyangusu on the Narok-Kisii border and back to Kisii via Keroka — a journey of only 70 kilometres — gives an over view of how small and packed the county really is.

From any corner of the county, it takes only half an hour to drive to the other end.

The journey also gives a visitor the sight not only of the terrain but also of the culture and lifestyle of the people.

From Kisii Town, one can see the Nyanguru ridges to the north, and the Sameta hills which resemble Menengai in the Rift Valley.

At Tendere, there is pineapple farming as well as tea and bananas.

And at Nyangusu, the border with Narok County highlights the contrasting faces of the counties.

In Narok can be seen fields lying fallow, while the Kisii side is overcrowded with crops.

The Gusii often attempt to lease the empty farms in Narok to plant maize, but the people there let their animals graze the land.

The majority of the Gusii are Christians; either Catholics or Seventh Day Adventists. The two churches are to be found in many places alongside other denominations including the Anglicans.

There are Muslims, too, with mosques in major market centres.

The Gucha River flows through the county, eventually pouring into Lake Victoria through neighbouring Nyamira and Homa Bay counties.
The river is fed by tributaries which also provide water for the villages.

The county boasts of centres of academic excellence — the Cardinal Otunga and Kisii high schools, Nyabururu Girls High School and Kisii University College, a constituent of Egerton University.

Other public universities have set up campuses in Kisii Town, taking education closer to the people.

Kisii Town, the capital of the county which is sandwiched between hills offers only limited space for expansion.

Kisii is one county that will face the challenges of identifying land for the governor’s residence, considering that the Ministry of Works has set three acres as the ideal size for the mini-state houses to be built.