Embu County The Land Of Opportunities To Adventure And Entertainment
Embu County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya. The administrative capital of the County is Embu town which was formerly the Eastern Province headquarters. The county is occupied indigenously by the Embu, Mbeere, and Kamba ethnic communities.
The county is about 130 km from the capital city, Nairobi, and is traversed by road B6 (Makutano -Meru), which is the major transport spine and passes through Embu and Runyenjes towns. The County is located approximately between latitude 0o 8’ and 0o 50’ South and longitude 37o 3’ and 37o 9’ East. It borders Kirinyaga County to the West, Kitui County to the East, Machakos County to the South, Murang’a County to the South West, Tharaka Nithi County to the North, and Meru to the North West. The county is divided into four sub-counties, namely; Runyenjes, Manyatta, Mbeere South, and Mbeere North covering a total area of 2,818 sq. km.
TOURISM
Embu county has a diverse tourism offering ranging from Wildlife in Mwea National Reserve, the Mt. Kenya Game Park, and the new Mt. Kenya South Eastern Route, Waterfalls such as Nthenge Njeru, Hills such as Karue, Kianjiru, Kiang’ombe, natural forests for nature trails and other ecotourism activities like Irangi, Njukiri, and Kirimiri. The County also has historical and heritage sites like Mau Mau caves, and the Mwenendega site which is believed to be the origin of the Aembu people. Cultural tourism is a strength and especially in the lower parts of the County which is expressed through music and dance.
Before the onset of devolution, Embu County was seen as a transit county for tourists traveling to neighboring counties. The reason is partly that Embu’s tourism potential remained unexploited. This notion is however changing with sustained marketing of the local tourism sites that has seen visitor numbers to the sites rising over the last couple of years.
TOURISM ATTRACTIONS IN EMBU
1. MT KENYA
The Embu people live to the southeast of Mount Kenya and believe that the mountain is God’s home (the Embu word for God is Ngai or Mwene Njeru). The mountain is sacred, and they build their houses with the doors facing toward it.
2. MT KENYA NATIONAL PARK
The National park is one of the most visited in the County by tourists
3. MWEA NATIONAL RESERVE
The reserve is located in Mbeere South Sub-county. The reserve’s ecosystem comprises small hills with bushy vegetation and scattered trees which are breeding grounds for wild animals such as elephants, zebras, giraffes, bushbucks, buffalos, impalas, vervet monkeys, baboons, gazelles, warthogs and Sykes. You can visit the reserve for game viewing and bird-watching adventures.
4. CAMP NDUNDA FALLS
Ndunda falls is located at the foothills of Mount Kenya, approximately 8 kilometers from Embu town. It is a beautiful place where you can relax and also engage in outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain cycling, zip lining, canopy walking, bird watching, nature trails, and camping.
5. KARUE HILL
This is a scenic hill located off the Embu-Runyenjes Road, about 30 minutes drive from Embu town. It offers amazing opportunities for hiking, camping, picnicking and sightseeing of Embu County and its environs.
6. NTHENGE NJERU WATERFALLS
It is a double waterfall located in Runyenjes, off the Embu-Runyenjes road. It is a splendid waterfall that is surrounded by beautiful vegetation that provides a conducive habitat for wild animals and over 50 species of birds.
7. SEVEN FORKS POWER PLANTS
You can visit the power plants located in Embu, to have a glimpse of how hydroelectric power is generated. The hydroelectric power plants include; Gitaru, Kamburu, Kindaruma, Kiambere, and Masinga.
8. KIRIMIRI FOREST
The forest is dominated by rare indigenous trees with thick undergrowth frequented by wild animals and diverse species of birds. It is one of the best hiking, camping, birdwatching, and picnicking destinations in Embu County.
9. KIANG’OMBE HILL
The magnificent hill also offers amazing opportunities for hiking, birdwatching, and sightseeing adventures. Locals believe that the hill is a center for witchcraft practices in Embu County.
10. MAU MAU CAVES
The scenic caves are located within the Kirimiri Forest. The caves were used as hideouts by Kenyan freedom fighters during the mau-mau uprising.
11. KIANJIRU HILL
The scenic hills feature bushlands and indigenous trees which form a habitat for different species of birds. It is also among the top hiking destinations in Embu County. It offers amazing opportunities for photo shoots and sightseeing of the seven forks dams and other scenic sites in Embu County.
12. EMBU GOLF CLUB
14. KINARA BEACH, AT RIAKANAU, EMBU
COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF EMBU
H.E. HON CECILY MUTITU MBARIRE M.G.H,
GOVERNOR, EMBU COUNTY
H.E. Hon. Cecily Mutitu Mbarire M.G.H is the Current and the Second Governor of Embu County.
1. EDUCATION
H.E. Hon Cecily Mututi Mbarire holds an Executive Master of Business Administration Degree from the United States International University and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Sociology) from Egerton University
2. SERVICE HISTORY
a) Legislative positions
H.E. Hon. Cecily Mutitu Mbarire M.G.H is a long-serving Member of Parliament for Runyenjes Constituency having served for twenty (20) consecutive years as below:
|
From |
To |
Elective/Nominated Position |
|
2017 |
2022 |
Nominated Member of Parliament, (Special Interest) Majority Deputy Chief Whip |
|
2013 |
2017 |
Member of Parliament, Runyenjes Constituency Chairperson: Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association (KEWOPA) |
|
2008 |
2013 |
Member of Parliament, Runyenjes Constituency Chairperson: Kenya Women Parliamentarians Association (KEWOPA) Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Transport |
|
2003 |
2007 |
Member of Parliament, Runyenjes Constituency Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Tourism |
b) Parliamentary Committees
H.E. has served in many Parliamentary Committees. To highlight a view, In the 11th Parliament she served as; Vice Chairperson of- Public Accounts Committee; Member,-Departmental Committee on Energy, Communication & Information, and Member- Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works & Housing,). In the 12th Parliament, she served as Member- Departmental Committee on Energy, Member- Committee on Appointment and Member, Procedure and House Rules Committee.
3. PHILOSOPHY
H.E. is very passionate about issues revolving around the following which she aims to implement as pillars to improve the social economic welfare of the people of Embu
- Women and Youth Empowerment
- Sustainable Agriculture and Value Addition
- Dignified Health Services Provision
- Education
- Infrastructure and Land management
- Tourism and Culture
- Youth and Sports
- Trade and Industry
- Governance
- Climate change and building communities resilience against impacts of climate change
- Utilization of ICT and enabling technologies
EMBU COUNTY TOURISM DEPARTMENT
VIRGINIA WARUE NGUGI
DIRECTOR OF TOURISM, EMBU COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Virginia Warue Ngugi is the Director of Tourism, Embu County Government.
EDUCATION
Virginia W. Ngugi holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Moi University, a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Geography) from Kenyatta University, and a Post Graduate Diploma (International Relations and Diplomacy) from the University of Nairobi
WORK
Virginia Warue Ngugi is a highly motivated and passionate tourism professional with close to thirty years of experience in public service at both national and county level. She worked at the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife for 21 years before joining Embu County Government as Director of Tourism in 2015. Virginia is widely traveled. Her service in the public sector has taken her to many countries for work and also training.
Virginia Warue Ngugi joined the Ministry of Tourism straight from university and rose through the ranks from a Tourism Officer to a Chief Tourism Officer where she served in various capacities through tourism marketing and promotion, product development, policy, and planning as well as in standardization and regulation of the hospitality facilities.
In the line of work at the ministry, Virginia steered the planning and execution of successful tourism marketing events across the country and out of the country, farm trips, conferences, and exhibitions. She was also involved in the planning and organizing of the World Exposition, Milano, Italy, in 2015, the East African Community committee of experts on EAC branding and marketing strategy, EAC committee of Experts on harmonization of tourism statistics among others. She participated in the development of the National Tourism Strategy, the policy and the Tourism Act of 2011, and the development of Embu tourism policy and the Embu Tourism Act of 2018.
As a resource person for a Climate Change workshop in Entebbe Uganda, in February 2003, Virginia presented a paper on “Application of climate information in mitigating climate change impacts in tourism: A case of the Greater Horn of Africa. She was also a resource person for the UNWTO Conference in Djerba, Tunisia, in April 2003, where she presented the same paper on “Application of climate information in mitigating climate change impacts in tourism: A case of the Greater Horn of Africa” Sponsored by United Nations Development Program. Attended TICAD-AATIC (Tokyo International Conference for African Development – Asia-Africa Trade and Investment Conference in November 2004.
Virginia is proud to have put Embu county in the tourism map and changing the hitherto notion of Embu as a transit county to an upcoming tourism destination with a number.
All Information and photos are Courtesy of the Department of Trade and Tourism, Embu County Government
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