Marsabit Town, Kenya

Look at a map of Kenya and you will see Marsabit town sitting coolly in the central region of northern Kenya. On the ground, it is a humble, small town that welcomes all its visitors. A well organized, urban centre, Marsabit is easy to navigate; you can literally get from one side of town to the other in 15 minutes or less! Therefore, things considered frustrating in major towns such as traffic and air pollution are foreign to the residents of Marsabit.  

Before we delve deeper, one can’t help but notice the uniqueness of the town’s name. Mar-sa-bit. The name is said to have come from our neighbours in the north. Broken down, it becomes Marsa Bet, which is an Amharic word which translates to Marsa’s home. The town is believed to have been named after a farmer who once visited the location where the town currently is. Tales speak of Marsa as a visitor who came to assist in consolidation of farming and ended up permanently settling on the slopes of Mount Marsabit, an extinct volcano on which the town sits, a kilometer above the desert area of Marsabit County. For the first forty of its formative years, the town is said to have been somewhat secluded and colonial administrators, Indian businessmen, nomads and traders from northern Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia were the only groups that maintained the town’s links to the outside world.   

Today, Marsabit town is accessible by road thanks to the fairly new tarmac road. Initially, getting to the town was something close to a nightmare; only lorries and government vehicles were known to travel in and out of the town. Presently, the tarmac stretches all the way to Moyale, approximately 250 kilometers north of Marsabit town.  

The tarmac isn’t the only advancement in infrastructure, if anything, it was the pace setter for more developments. Due to the constant travel in and out of the town, it only makes sense that there are three petrol stations in Marsabit. Moreover, three banks have branches here and there is a variety of shops and restaurants to cater to the various needs of a first-time visitor.  

Marsabit has grown into a trading and commercial center, facilitating the supply and movement of goods between Isiolo and Moyale, going as far as southern Ethiopia.