Kisumu Town on path to get city status

The town's economy is growing at a very fast rate due to co-existence of people from different backgrounds. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Kisumu Town may finally become a city, nearly two decades after former President Daniel Moi announced its elevation.

Yesterday, Governor Anyang' Nyong'o chaired a county cabinet meeting, which approved a charter meant to anchor the town's new status in law.

The document will be presented to the county assembly for approval before final approval by the State Department of Urban Planning.

In 2001, President Moi announced the elevation of the town to a city.

The former president made the announcement at Moi Stadium in Kisumu as the town celebrated 100 years of existence.

The announcement saw local songbird Suzzanna Owiyo compose her hit song Kisumu Ber (beautiful Kisumu) to celebrate its new status.

There has been infrastructure development in the town, which has been a boost to the realisation of its city status.

The journey of formalising the status of Kisumu as a city has taken long. However, most residents are unaware that the town is not yet a city, legally.

With the creation of the City Management Board, whose members are set to be sworn into office in the coming days, the town seems to have overcome the obstacles to become a fully recognised city.

A move by the county cabinet to approve the charter is one of the most important steps in making Kisumu, formally referred to as Port Florence by colonialists, a city.

“It has been long, but I was not in the picture so I do not want to speculate why it took the town long to get the city status,” said Nyong’o.

According to Urban Areas and Cities Act, before classification as a city, urban areas must have infrastructure such as roads, street lighting, markets, fire stations, waste disposal and disaster management facilities.