Zombe

Folklore states that the name of the settlement, 'Zombe' derived from a derogatory name given to locals by a member of the British colonial government who was stationed in the locality. The story tells how the colonials wished to construct a settlement in the area (closer to the Thua River) but chose a site that was sacred to the local community. During the day, locals were forced to work manually - digging foundations and making bricks, however at night, the same locals would wake up to re-fill the foundation trenches and to throw stones at the British camps. Infuriated, the British government officials would blame the locals, who denied any involvement and asserted that it was their ancestors filling the trenches and throwing the stones - to show their disapproval of the proposed new settlement. This pattern of behaviour continued for a number of weeks until, exasperated, the British moved on (eventually choosing a site atop the escarpment and closer to the now Kitui Town). When explaining to his superiors why he'd abandoned the plans to build a settlement at the chosen location, the British official declared that he had tried but that the locals had "bodies that worked and minds that didn't - just like zombies!'. The nickname stuck and the area was then indicated as 'Zombe' on maps. Many years later, after the construction of a girl's secondary school in the settlement, a headteacher was becoming increasingly annoyed with her students being teased by others for being zombies and so changed the name of the school to 'Sombe Girls Secondary School'. Some maps will, erroneously, indicate the settlement as 'Sombe'. Additionally some 'translated' the word 'zombie' into the local KiKamba dialect, and so some signage (mostly local to the area) will indicate the settlement's name as 'Nthombe'.