Chogoria is a town located in Mwimbi Division of Meru South District in the Eastern Province of Kenya. It is located roughly 140 Miles (about 225 km) from Nairobi. It is connected to the rest of the country by the all-weather, tarmacked Meru-Embu road. The closest town to Chogoria is Chuka, the District Headquarters. Other surrounding towns are Nkubu, Meru and Embu. The town has a total population of 28,637 and an urban population of 2,500 (1999 census [1])
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Chogoria town grew primarily due to the presence of the PCEA Chogoria Hospital. The hospital was established in 1922 by Dr. Clive Irwin, a Scottish missionary and it has grown to one of the leading hospitals in the entire country. The missionaries also introduced the Presbyterian Church to the area hence the high membership of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa by the local populace.
The PCEA Hospital is a general hospital providing acute adult and paediatric medical and surgical services; outpatient clinics including several subspecialist clinics such as diabetes and HIV medicine; obstetric and gynaecological services; oncology and palliative care. The hospital has a level 2 neonatal nursery attached to the obstetric unit. Basic laboratory services are available on site.
Chogoria is also an educational hub, featuring several primary and secondary schools within the urban area. These include Chogoria Girls Boarding Primary School - A Girls only Primary school, Chogoria Boys Boarding Primary School - A boys only primary school, Chogoria Boys High School and Chogoria Girls High School - A Boys and Girls Secondary school respectively. There are several other smaller schools in the locality. Some of them are Chogoria Academy, Milimani Academy, Chogoria Junior School and Chogoria Complex primary school.
Chogoria is also one of the few entrances to the World Famous Mount Kenya. Mountain climbers regularly pass through Chogoria on their way to the mountain
Chogoria and the surrounding area politics were dominated by the Democratic Party that was led by current President Mwai Kibaki from 1992 to 2002. When NARC was formed in 2002, the population shifted their allegiance to NARC. If follow then that the local residents shifted to PNU in the contested 2007 elections and overwhelmingly voted for the PNU candidate - Mwai Kibaki. In the four elections that Kibaki contested, the area overwhelmingly supported him.
Chogoria is part of Nithi Constituency. However the area had not produced an MP for over 20 years until 2007 when KANU candidate Japhet Kareke Mbiuki was elected as the MP for Nithi. Prior to that, Nithi MP's were from the Chuka side of the constituency.