Elgeyo-Marakwet County is one of Kenya's 47 counties, which is located in the former Rift Valley Province with its capital and largest town as Iten. It borders the counties of West Pokot to the north, Baringo County to the east, southeast and south, Uasin Gishu to the southwest and west, and Trans Nzoia to the northwest.
Demographics
The total population of Elgeyo-Marakwet County is 454,480 persons, of this 227,317 are females, 227,151 males and 12 intersex persons. There are 99,861 households in the county with an average size of 4.5 persons per household with a density population of 150 persons per square km.
Religion
Religion in Elgeyo-Marakwe County
Geography, geology and topography
The Kerio River binds the county on the eastern side. From its alluvial plain the topography gradually rises towards the west. The Elgeyo Escarpment stands out distinctly and causes elevation differences of up to 1,500 m. In the northern and southern part of the county the topography is rugged, giving way to more subdued relief differences going westwards. The underlying geology mainly consists of gneisses from the Basement System. The Cherangany Hills rise gently to form the western half of the Great Rift Valley and extend northwest in a broken chain to Mount Moroto in Uganda. Non-volcanic in origin, the Cherangany Hills resulted from subsequent erosion of the raised western ridge of the Eastern Rift Valley. The range is approximately long and wide and averages in height; its highest point reaches more than . Many of the summits are covered with huge groundsels and lobelias. Some of the hills include Kameleogon (3581 m), Chebon (3375 m), Chepkotet (3370 m), Alaleigelat (3350 m) and Sodang (3211 m).
Climate
Temperatures range from a minimum of 12 °C which is extremely cold with mists and even frost to some extent to a maximum of 22 °C. Rainfall ranges annually from 800 to 2300 mm.
Religion and ethnicity
The county is mainly occupied by Keiyo, Sengwer also called Cherangany and Marakwet are part of the larger ethnic grouping of eight culturally and linguistically related ethnic groups known as the Kalenjin.Marakwet is a sub-tribe of the Kalenjin. It is made up of the sub-dialects Almoo, Endoow, Markweta (the sub-dialect giving rise to the common name), and Sombirir (Borokot) who presently predominantly live in Marakwet District in the North Rift Valley Province. Some now live in Trans Nzoia East and Uasin Gishu North districts and in other towns.The name Keiyo or Elgeyo has been used interchangeably to describe the Keiyo people. The latter name is disputed as a corruption of the true name, which was coined by the Uasin-Gishu Maasai, who were the Keiyo's neighbours in the mid-9th century at the western side of Eldoret.
Administrative and Political Units
Elgeyo - Marakwet is divided into 4 sub-counties, 20 county assemblies wards, 68 locations and 199 sub-locations. Below is the distribution of the county assemblies wards.
Source
County government
Wisley Rotich who succeeded Alex Tolgos is currently serving his first term as the county's Governor. William Kisang is the current senator replacing Kipchumba Murkomen who was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Roads. The County Women Representative is Caroline Jeptoo Ng'elechei, all of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party, an affiliate of the Jubilee Alliance. The county has four constituencies in the National Assembly, and twenty ward seats in its County Assembly. The County Assembly Speaker is Mr. Albert Kochei.
County Executive Committee
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County Ward Representatives
Health
The county has over 130 public and private health facilities with an averages of 3.7 km access distance from one health centre to another. The county has 626 medical personnels across the fields of medical profession.
Transport and Communication
The is covered with 292.1 km of earth, 1,415.3 km of murram and 92.2 km of bitumen. As at 2014 there were 8 postal offices across the county with 1,600 installed letter boxes, 1,112 rented letter boxes and 488 vacant letter boxes.
Economy
The main economic activity carried out in the county is mixed farming, which consists mainly of livestock and subsistence farming. Other activities include small business, tourism and fluorspar mining in Kerio Valley. Oil Prospecting by Tullow Oil Company is ongoing in Kerio Valley.
As at 2014 county had 62,190,000 cattle, 7,220,000 goats and 10,232,000 sheep.