Ruiru: History
This area was a sisal and coffee-growing district with sisal on either side of the river to the right of the main road to Thika. It is now a housing area. There used to be four main manager houses on the estate on the south side of the river. The area was given over to an African consortium to be developed into smallholdings in the 1970s.
Before Kenya's independence, Ruiru was administered under the Nairobi City Council and referred to as the Western Rural District. After independence, the area was put under the administration of the Kiambu County Council before being elevated to a town council in 1986. In 1997, Ruiru was upgraded to municipality status comprising nine elective wards: Biashara, Gitothua, Gatongora, Kahawa Sukari, Githurai, Kimbo, Jacaranda, Theta, Viwanda, and Murera.
The creation of the Nairobi Metropolitan Region (NMR) by an Executive Order in May 2008 put the town under its broader urban integrated plan.