Chogoria
Chogoria is a town located in Mwimbi Division of Tharaka-Nithi County of Kenya. It is located roughly 140 Miles (about 225 km) from Nairobi. It is connected to the rest of the country by an all-weather, tarmacked road, the Meru - Nairobi highway.. The closest town to Chogoria is Chuka. Other surrounding towns are Igoji, Nkubu, Meru and Embu. The town has an urban population of 28,415 and a rural population of 3208 (KNBS 2009 census .
Healthcare
Chogoria town grew primarily due to the presence of the Chogoria Hospital, a missionary hospital which was established in 1922 by Dr. Clive Irvine, a Scottish missionary and it has grown to one of the leading hospitals in the region
Chogoria Hospital is a 295-bed capacity regional referral hospital providing adult and pediatric medical and surgical services; outpatient clinics including several subspecialty clinics such as; cardiology, ENT, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, diabetes, HIV medicine; obstetrics and gynecology, oncology and palliative care. The hospital has 15 cots for the neo-nates nursery attached to the obstetric unit. Basic and advanced laboratory services are also available on site. The hospital has a vibrant radiology unit that offers x-ray, ultrasonography and CT scan services. renal dialysis services are also offered in the facility which has 6 hemodialysis machines. In 2018 the hospital launched its 4-bed capacity intensive care unit providing the much-needed service for ventilatory support and continuous cardiac monitoring for critically ill patients. The also hospital is also a teaching hospital: it has training college under the name "Clive Irvine College of Nursing" which offers a 3-year program of Kenya registered community Health Nursing. Besides nursing, the hospital provides internship and attachments to the medical officers and clinical officers. post basic programs offered in the hospital include; family medicine and surgery residency programs Residents of Chogoria also access medical care from Egoji St. Ann Hospital, Chuka Consolata Hospital, and the Chuka District Hospital-a Government-run Hospital,
Religion
Chogoria is pre-dominantly Christian with the a majority of the residents being members of the Presbyterian Church. The Catholic Church consolidated its presence in the area in 2010 by commissioning a town Church and a Parish (Christ the King). Several evangelical ministries also exist.
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Education
Chogoria is also an educational hub, featuring several primary and secondary schools within the urban area. These include Chogoria Girls Boarding Primary School, Chogoria Boys Boarding Primary School, chogoria and Complex primary school. Among the high schools are Chogoria Boys and Chogoria Girls and The Chogoria Senior School. There are also several private schools including Chogoria Academy, Milimani Academy, Chogoria Junior, Santa Ritz and Gateway. The town also hosts the Clive Irvine college of nursing, a pioneer medical training college that provides opportunities for higher education to students from across Kenya. The college has two intakes for Kenya Registered Community Health Nursing(KRCHN), in September and March every year to all that meet the minimum academic qualifications set by the Nursing council of Kenya
Recreation
Chogoria town is also one of the routes to the World Famous Mount Kenya. Mountain climbers often use Transit Motel in the outskirts of the township as their base. Very recommended is Kilimo Talii about 3 km before the town coming from Embu and 400m from main road, at a place called Wiru. It is a community based resort run by Kenaff (Kenyan National Farmers Federation). The main gate of Mount Kenya National park is about 26km from Chogoria on a fairly good gravel road.
Politics
Chogoria and the surrounding area politics were dominated by the Democratic Party that was led by Kenya's third president, President Mwai Kibaki from 1992 to 2002. When NARC was formed in 2002, the population shifted their allegiance to NARC. If follow then that the local residents shifted to PNU in the contested 2007 elections and overwhelmingly voted for the PNU candidate - Mwai Kibaki. In the four elections that Kibaki contested, the area overwhelmingly supported him.
Chogoria is currently part of Maara Constituency. The area MP Japhet Kareke Mbiuki was initially elected as the MP for Nithi; a constituency that was later split into two(2), Maara and Chuka-Igambang'ombe. Hon Mbiuki was re-elected to the National Assembly to represent Maara during the 4 March 2013 elections through The National Alliance Party (TNA) also a member of the Jubilee Coalition. Chogoria is also the hometown of the late Bernard Mate, a philosopher-politician who was one of the prominent Kenyan leaders at independence.
Economy
Chogoria is basically an agriculture-reliant economy. The area is endowed with a climate that is suited to production of many types of crops including Coffee and Tea. Dairy farming is also practiced in the area. Other sources of employment and income include the timber industry, tourism (starting point for excursions to Mount Kenya National Park) and retail trade in household goods.