Kitui town: Why is Kitui Town Growing So Fast?

No doubt that Kitui is one of the fastest growing towns in Kenya. Just think about it: less than 10 years it was possible for you, standing at the Kitui Kunda Kindu bus station, to see the other bus station that is in the CBD. Today, all that area from Kunda Kindu to Mjini has been built up, and many of the buildings occupying that space are of high-rise nature/multi-storied buildings.

Another sign that Kitui town has grown is in terms of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Today, you notice that crossing the towns in Kitui town is becoming a hassle, thanks to the vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The Kitui town of today is one where you find that you have to hold your kid’s hands.

And standing at a place like, say, Kiembeni Hotel or at the Kitui Slaughter House, you get the impression that you could as well be in some sort of Nairobi neighborhood, thanks to the highrise buildings. The same feeling is replicated on that valley just below the Kitui general hospital: where a place that was previously occupied by farmlands is now host to all manner of high rise buildings.

It has gotten to a point where we now have Kitui town service vehicles/tuktuks, serving routes such as Kitui town to Syongila, Kitui town to Kwa Vonza, Kitui town to Mulutu and so on. And with the completion of tarmacking of the B7 road which connects Kitui town to Mutomo and Kibwezi, one can only foresee even greater growth in Kitui town in the future...

To my mind, there are three factors that explain the fast growth of Kitui town.

One is the fact that Kitui town has a huge catchment area. With a catchment area of more than 32,000 square kilometers (Kitui county is that big – much bigger than some nations), it is hardly surprising that its headquarters would be bustling.

Another factor contributing to Kitui town’s growth is devolution, in which context Kitui town has emerged as the undisputed Kitui county headquarters (with all the benefits that come with that).

Yet another factor contributing to Kitui town’s growth is the aggressiveness of Kitui residents in educational and business pursuits. They are then inclined to invest what they manage to earn locally and elsewhere [in their business and professional pursuits] back home in Kitui town: leading to the exponential growth we are seeing in Kitui town.