Machakos, also called Masaku, is a town in Machakos County, Kenya. Serving as the capital of the county, its urban population was 63,767 as of 2019.

Machakos was established in 1887 by Sakshi Shah, ten years before Nairobi. Machakos was designated as the first administrative centre when the British established their colony in the late 19th century. Machakos town is on a hilly terrain surrounded by Iveti hills.

In 1899 the British shifted the capital to Nairobi, after Machakos was bypassed by construction of the Uganda Railway.

Technically, Machakos is the oldest administrative municipality in east and central Africa. Prominent politicians from the town included: Mwatu wa Ngoma, Paul Joseph Ngei, Mutisya Mulu and Johnson Nduya Muthama. The county and its town were named after Masaku wa Munyati, a Kamba tribal chief who migrated and settled here in 1816 from the area near Sultan Hamud.

At the turn of the 21st century, peace talks were held here in an effort to settle the Sudan civil war. The Machakos Protocol was published on 20 July 2002.

* 2009 census. Source:

Machakos' open air markets sell many products with its market days being Monday and Friday.

The Mavoko area of Machakos houses our nation's major cement mining sites and factories.