Marimanti
{{Use Kenyan English|date=September 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Marimanti
| other_name = Tharaka
| settlement_type = market town
| image_skyline =
| image_caption =
| map_caption = Location of Marimanti
| pushpin_map = Kenya
| coordinates = {{coord|00|09|16|S|37|58|34|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|Kenya}}
| subdivision_type1 = County
| subdivision_name1 = Tharaka Nithi County
| subdivision_type2 = Sub-county
| subdivision_name2 = Tharaka South
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone = EAT
| utc_offset = +3
}}
Marimanti is a small market town in Tharaka South subcounty, of Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya. The town formerly served as the Headquarters of Tharaka District, which was scrapped after the 2010 Constitution which replaced provincial administrative units with counties. River Kathita flows past the town.{{Cite web|title=Marimanti |publisher=Mindat |url=https://www.mindat.org/feature-10400158.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930151341/https://www.mindat.org/feature-10400158.html |archive-date=30 September 2023 |url-status=live }} Its market is the second largest in the county after that in Chuka.{{Cite news|last=Njeru|first=Alex|title=Marimanti town traders stop paying taxes to protest lack of public toilets|work=Nation |url=https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/tharaka-nithi-/marimanti-town-traders-stop-paying-taxes-to-protest-lack-of-public-toilets-3982566 |date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012124029/https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/tharaka-nithi-/marimanti-town-traders-stop-paying-taxes-to-protest-lack-of-public-toilets-3982566 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |url-status=live }}
History
From 1998 to 2009, Marimanti (Tharaka) was the administrative headquarters of Tharaka District.{{Cite journal|title=Parliamentary Debates |journal=Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard) |date=2 November 2004 |page=3965 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BberFbaqeAAC&pg=PT24 }}
In 2022, merchants at the Marimanti market organized a tax strike to protest the county government's failure to maintain toilet facilities at the market.
Facilities
There is a magistrate court in Marimanti.{{Cite web|title=Marimanti Law Courts |url=http://kenyalaw.org/kl/index.php?id=5691 }}
Facilities include Marimanti Hospital with a staff of 160.{{Cite web|title=About Marimanti: Marimanti Hospital |publisher=Friends of Marimanti |url=https://www.friendsofmarimanti.org/about-marimanti |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723125606/https://www.friendsofmarimanti.org/about-marimanti |archive-date=23 July 2023 |url-status=live }}
Notable people
- Mzalendo Kibunjia, archeologist and administrator.