Migori
Migori is a county of Kenya. Migori town is the capital of the county. The town is located 63 km south of Kisii and 22 km north of the Tanzanian border. The town has an urban population of 31,644 and total population of 46,576 (1999 census ).
Migori is connected by road to the Masai Mara national park, but the road is in poor condition. Migori town is immediately after Awendo, (where the Sony Sugar Company is situated), Oyani, Stella and Kakrao areas.The road to Isebania is well tarmacked from Kakrao to Mwanza in Tanzania.
This is not true. River Migori passes through the town and the river is called so in masai land kadem and kuria land so the name migori has absolutely nothing to do with mosquitoes! The suna name also has nothing to do with mosquitoes. Suna clans derive their ancestry to the Baganda clans who crossed the lake entering Kenya through present day gwasi constituency at nyandiwa landing bay. In fact kabaka suna is a notable ruler of the Baganda kingdom who fell out with the ruling class. The suna dialect is a cross breed between kuria language and Luganda but today much closer to ki kuria.
Geography
Elevation is roughly 1500 meters above sea level (asl.) at Kakrao descending by 100 m asl. into the Migori river. The different peaks near the town are a little over 1550 m asl.
Rainfall is in two seasons like in most of Kenya and the highest rainfall is between March and May. Average rainfall is approximately 1200 mm and above, but the rainfall patterns are unique, as the small town has three patterns of rainfall according to the neighborhood. It could rain in Kakrao but around Onyalo school would be very dry and Namba would have a slight drizzle.
The soils are well-drained and tend to be loamy. This favors the cultivation of tobacco, sugarcane, maize, beans, coffee, groundnuts and vegetables. However, agricultural production is restricted by the drought periods if no irrigation water is available.
The town is home to the Suna people with a significant immigrant luo community in between. Recent migration has introduced a significant number of Maragolis. It is not surprising thus, that many villagers around the town speak Maragoli and Luo. There are also significant numbers of Kisiis, Kikuyus (Though the unfortunate skirmishes of 2007 left many of the Kikuyus traumatised). The language of business is Kiswahili, which shows the big difference with other Luo-dominated towns.
The Church and Mosque life is very vibrant and at times very loud but this is expected to change with the new Noise laws introduced by Nema.
Trade and mining
There has been gold mining activities in the area. Mining was centered in Macalader area of Migori on the way to Sori (Karungu Bay). There is a significant gold mining activity in rongo constituency of migori county.
Most activity is centered on the main highway that crosses the town. Most activity is Small and Micro enterprises largely the Jua Kali with a concentration in auto mechanics, furniture works,tailoring, welding, trade and agriculture. Agricultural produce comes from surrounding areas like Ngege, oyani,anjego etc. Other profit making organisations include Barclays, KCB,K-rep, family finance, Co-op and Post banks.
There is a National cereals board depot.
Plants and wildlife
Some common trees include Bondo (Euphorbiacandelabrum), Ochwoga (Carissa edulis), Mukinduri (Croton megalocarpus), Ngow (Ficus nataliensis), Onera (Terminalia brownii), Toona does well in the area but most trees are multi-branched, which may indicate bud borer trouble. Terminalia catappa, Cypress (a Cupressus lusitanica variant) does well in the area and some pine has been grown successfully.
The birdlife here is varied with many records of blue flycatcher, blue-spotted wood dove, harrier hawk, bat hawk, baglafecht weaver, tawny eagle, purple grenadier, beautiful sunbird, yellow-billed stork, hadada ibis, African citril, cape turtle dove, paradise flycatcher, yellow white eye, white-browed robin chat, black-headed gonolek, black kite among others.
Schools and colleges
- Pesoda Annex High School, an international school, 200m from Migori TTC.
- Nyabisawa Girls school
- Migori Boys
- Kadika Girls
moi suba girls
- Onyalo Mixed
- Migori Teachers College
- St. Pius Uriri High school.
- Bware Friends School.
- Oruba Mixed Secondary
- Pentagon Academy is opposite Migori Teachers Training College. It was founded by five directors in 2000 under the lead of Ochupe Sylvan. Is an alma mata to the likes of Churchill Brown Otieno, Cliff Hani, Jackline Rhoda, James Onyango and Collins Araka, Opande, Asuma and many other greats.
- Msomi Teachers Training College
- Milimani Junior Academy
- Magongo Secondary School
- Kanga High School is a national school found along Kisii–Migori highway, in the Kamagambo area near Kitere village. It is under the stewardship of Michael Ogweno as the principal. The school was founded by Luke Oyugi in the 1990s with the founding headmaster from Alliance School. The second headmaster was Mr Kaunda, who was later transferred to Sawagongo Boys after serving for almost a decade. Kanga is described a cosmopolitan school because it serves inmates from out and within. Long ago it used to host majority of the students from Luo but, thanks to the changing system, students come from different areas in Kenya to get their academics. The school has profound teachers, and this is a masterstroke as it seen in the final output, the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Some of the teachers are Luke Oyugi, mathematics; Boke, Kiswahili; Goa, chemistry.