Banana Hills is a suburb of Karuri, in the Kiambu District of Kenya.
It has recently acquired its own identity, being more of a shopping district of Kambaa Division and an important transport exchange point.
It is also the heart of Kiambaa Constituency politics with 20% of the estimated population of 100000 living in the constituency.
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It is sitiuated approximately 20 km north of Nairobi City via Limuru Road by Runda Estate. Banana Hills can also be approached from Limuru, Kiambaa/Kiambu and Ndenderu/Redhill roads which are all weather. Situated at nearly 2000m above sea level, in the temperate Kenyan Highlands, the area receives an average annual rainfall of 790 mm (31 in) with average temperatures ranging from 48° to 84°F in January and 45° to 79°F in July.
Most mornings and evenings are chilly. This was one of the major attraction for the British colonizers.
Banana Hills was so named by the British Colonial soldiers locally known as johnnies, who as their military trucks climbed the hills on their way to Limuru, they could only see banana plantations as they looked downhilll towards Nairobi.
The green scenery is rapidly being replaced with red rooftops of the mushrooming mansions as the city spreads north.
Banana Hills comprises the following estates: Banana town, Mombasa, Gacorui, Miberethi Inana and Thimbigwa.
Banana Hills is a multi-ethnic multi-racial town and has a reputation for welcoming refugees from both local and international conflicts.
It is rumored that Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda sojourned in Banana Hills during his years in exile. The same goes with late John Garang Head of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, which led to the creation of the Republic of Southern Sudan on July 9, 2011.
Banana Hills has in the past welcomed people fleeing conflicts in their countries from Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa during the Apartheid years among others.
There is the Karuri Police Station, Postal Corporation of Kenya,Karuri. Karuri Post office serves the following areas : Nairobi North – Kangemi, Kikuyu, Githunguri, Nazareth, Limuru
Karuri Health Centre, one of the oldest in the country,provides outpatient services to the area residents. In addition,the centre offers maternity services and has an 18 bed capacity.
Prominent schools in the area include: Thimbigwa Primary, Muthurwa Primary, Karuri Primary, Msingi Bora Academy and others.
The town boasts a number of well known high schools among them: Karuri High School, Senior Chief Koinange High School, Banana Hill School and Muthurwa High School.
There a many churches of different denominations which have sprung up in the recent past.
However, the original faiths of the area were based on both Catholic and Protestant faiths.For this reason,the major churches in the town are ACK Emmanuel Church Karuri, St.Jaseph Allamano Catholic Church Karuri, ACK Thimbigwa Church, ACK Banana Hills church and many more.
Banana Hills is home to the famous evangelist and faith healer,Bishop Margaret Wangare.
Bishop Margaret Wangari became the pioneer of the Pentecostal movement in Banana Hills when she received the Gift of Healing in the '70s.
Many people came to know Banana Hills then as they made pilgrimage in search of miracle healing.
The Anointed Christian Fellowship ministry which she is the founder is credited with the founding of many Pentecostal churches in the area and around the country.
There is large open market where farm products and clothing items are bought and sold.
There is however, a large open air market which operates on Mondays and Thursdays only.
The town is served by the following banks: Family Bank,Equity Bank,Postbank and Kenya Women Finance.
In addition it has hair salons, hardware stores, supermarkets and a good number of entertainment spots. The town also hosts a number of internet cafes.
Visitors to Banana Hills may also want to visit the Banana Hill Art Studios.
Banana Hills is a major transit point for passengers travelling to Limuru, Kiambu, Wangige, Kikuyu Town and other outlying areas.
Matatu transport business is an important aspect of Banana Hills as many of its residents travel to and from Nairobi everyday for work.
Matatu Transport Business is believed to have been started in Banana Hills before being embraced by the whole nation. Prior to this, the area was famous for small scale flower and dairy farming and a number of families to this day live off horticulture. Coffee farming has been an important business in the area but on decline as most land owners opt for rental buildings over coffee growing whose global prices have been on decline.
It is the home of the famous Mbiyu Koinange, Kiambaa Constituency representative in Kenya Parliament from 1963 to 1974 a powerful minister and a very close confidant of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta administration.
Mbiyu Koinange was the first black African to receive a masters degree. He is also athe grandfather to Jeff Koinange, a prominent TV personality in Kenya and a former CNN employee. It is important to note that Mbiyu Koinange was the son of the former famous colonial Senior Chief Koinange wa Mbiyu.