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Machakos, also called Masaku, is a town in Machakos County, Kenya. Serving as the capital of the county, its urban population was 63,767 as of 2019.
In 1899 the British shifted the capital to Nairobi, after Machakos was bypassed by construction of the Uganda Railway.
Technically, Machakos is the oldest administrative municipality in east and central Africa. Prominent politicians from the town included: Mwatu wa Ngoma, Paul Ngei, Mutisya Mulu and Johnson Muthama. The county and its town were named after Masaku wa Munyati, a Kamba people tribal chief who migrated and settled here in 1816 from the area near Sultan Hamud.
At the turn of the 21st century, peace talks were held here in an effort to settle the Sudan civil war. The Machakos Protocol was published on 20 July 2002.
The Mavoko area of Machakos houses our nation's major cement mining sites and factories.
Machakos has a number of banks such as Barclays, Equity, National Bank, NIC Bank, Credit Bank, Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), Standard Chartered, K-rep, Co-operative, and Kenya Commercial in the CBD, and the Universal traders Sacco. It has the larger administrative offices in lower Ukambani.
Machakos town has good road infrastructure and town planning. It has a well-planned bus terminal at the heart of the town popularly known as the 'Machakos Airport'. It's a busy place where buses and depart for Machakos and Kitui as well as Western Kenya, Nyanza and the Rift Valley.
Machakos has hilly scenery, good for camping and hiking. It is the home town of some of the world's most beautiful sculptures made in Wamunyu.
Kaloleni near Ngelani, is famous for "water flowing against gravity". It is on Kituluni Hill, a spot known as Kya Mwilu to the east of Machakos. As the slogan of Machakos County goes, it is "The Place to be".
High schools include Pope Paul VI Junior Seminary (Popase), Machakos Girls, Machakos School, St. Monica, St. Valentine Girls, Mumbuni School, Kitulu day secondary school and Katoloni among others.
Tertiary education is still growing, with new universities and colleges like Machakos University, Machakos Teachers Training College, Machakos Institute of Technology, Copperbelt College, Century Park College, Lukenya University, African Training Centre for Research and Technology, Scott Christian University and Computers for School Kenya. The most advanced and oldest collage remains the Kenya Medical Training College Machakos Campus. Prominent students from KMTC Machakos include John Mutuku Kivunga HSC, who is now a renowned clinical officer in Kenya.
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