Mpeketoni is a small town and an administrative division in the mainland part of Lamu District, Coast Province, Kenya. It is a settlement scheme started in 1960s by the first president of the Republic of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta near a fresh water lake bearing his name.
Originally, Mpeketoni and its surroundings was inhabited by swahilis called wabajuni and a small huntersand gatherers tribe by the name of wasanye or the sanyes who are almost extinct. In the early 1970s Mpeketoni was transformed into a settlement area for all Kenyans. Most of those who settled there were Kenyans from upcountry who had been living in Tanzania but decided to return home . The Kikuyu tribe, which is traditionally a farming community, mostly populates this area. Other tribes found in Mpeketoni include the Luos and Kambas as well as the original local Swahili people. The land has since been painstakingly transformed to arable land for farming. The main cash crops include maize, cotton, cassava, cashew nuts, mangoes, and bananas.
The division and the division headquarter by the same name is in a route that was used by the Arab traders taking their commodities "slaves" to Lamu Island. Up to now a huge mango tree along the way from Mpeketoni to Lamu Island are still visible and are said to have grown from the seeds of the mangoes slaves were eating.
