Vihiga

Vihiga is a town in Kenya that is located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest. The town is along the road between Kisumu and Kakamega, and only five kilometres north of the equator. Vihiga bears the same name as its district, Vihiga District, which is one of the eight districts in Kenya's Western Province. Vihiga municipality has an urban population of 19,000 and total population of 98,189 (1999 census [http://treasury.go.ke/cbs.go.ke/pdf/authority.pdf] ).

Vihiga municipality has six wards, two of them (Central Maragoli and Wamuluma) belong to Vihiga Constituency while remaining four wards (Chavakali, Izawa, Lyaduywa and North Maragoli) are part of the Sabatia Constituency. In the 2002 general elections, all six civic seats were won by National Rainbow Coalition.

Maragoli are the dominant tribe in the area and the town is also known sometimes as Maragoli. Tiriki, Idakho and Banyore are other ethnic groups in this place. As a district, Vihiga has its administrative headquarters in Mbale township, located within the Vihiga municipality. Vihiga is also a name of one of the divisions in it. Other divisions include Sabatia, Hamisi, Lwanda and Emuhaya.