What Nakuru must fix now to earn new found city status

A view of Nakuru town from Milimani Estate. [Photo:Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

Last September, the Cabinet approved elevation of two more towns to cities, bringing the number of Kenyan cities to five.

If Parliament amends the Urban Areas and Cities Act of 2011, Nakuru and Eldoret will acquire city status.

But does Nakuru have what it takes to be a city?

From atop the new 12-floor Tower One building in downtown Nakuru, the changing skyline is visible. The rusty roofs of old colonial buildings that once dotted the town’s edges are no more.

Modern tiled and coloured roofs and new high-rise buildings now sprout from the rubble where the old, dilapidated structures once stood.

Highway Towers, Shoppers Paradise, West Side Mall and Naivas Mall have tremendously changed the town’s look. Then there are hotels. New establishments like the Sarova Woodland Hotel, the Alps and Ole Ken have come up in time to reap from the windfall that comes with city status.

In 2013, the United Nations Habitat listed Nakuru as one of the fastest growing towns in East and Central Africa. Economic experts say this growth has been brought about by many factors, including Nakuru’s location -- 150 kilometres from Nairobi, Eldoret and Nyeri -- that gives the town an edge in business.

“Nakuru town has made use of its strategic location in the middle of everything. Nairobi acts as its good source for cheap supplies,” says Rajinder Puri, an economist.

The same trader can also make a one-day trip to sell the clothes in Eldoret, Puri says.

“Nyeri on the other hand provides a back-up market especially when the tea and coffee bonus season kicks in,” he says.

But it is Nakuru’s location next to the Northern Corridor and the Kenya-Uganda Rilway that is its aorta, pumping in people and goods.

And with the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) already underway and the construction of the dry port in Naivasha, Nakuru is bound to expand further.

Governor Lee Kinyanjui says his administration has kicked off a major infrastructural facelift as the county waits for its headquarters to attain the elusive city status.

Cleanest town

The county government is already rehabilitating the Lanet airstrip into an international airport with the help of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the national government.

“The airstrip will be upgraded to accommodate large commercial planes. Under this arrangement, we shall convert the military facility into a public utility available for use by civilian aircraft,” Mr Kinyanjui told Sunday Standard recently.

Once Kenya’s cleanest town, Nakuru is keen to regain its lost glory. County Trade, Cooperatives and Tourism Executive Committee member Peter Ketyenya says the county government will work hard to attract new investors and create thousands of employment opportunities.

“There is an opportunity for everyone and Nakuru people should seize the moment,” said Ketyenya.

But what does it take for a town to be elevated to a city?

According to the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011, for an urban area to be classified as a city, it must have a population of at least 250,000 residents based on the last population census data. Nakuru’s population stands at 800,000, according to the 2009 census.

The town must have an integrated urban area or city development plan and should demonstrate the capacity to generate sufficient revenue to sustain its entire operation.

In the 2015/16 financial year, Nairobi collected Sh11.7 billion, followed by Mombasa (Sh2.9 billion), Kiambu (Sh2.5 billion) and Nakuru at Sh2.3 billion.

The governor has roped in the county assembly to help prepare the town for its new status.

Speaker Joel Maina Kairo told Sunday Standard the assembly will fast track the approval of the county Geo-spatial plan.

But as the authorities set in motion the process of elevating Nakuru town to a city, a lot needs to be done to fix the dilapidated road infrastructure and expand the sewerage system already reeling from the pressure of a fast growing population.

Sanitation and sewerage

David Kuria, a human rights activist, says although authorities are celebrating the proposal to elevate Nakuru to a city, access to the sanitation and sewerage services to people living in the informal settlements remain a major challenge.

Kuria says the town and  its  environs are sitting on a health time bomb, with its inefficient and leaking sewers discharging untreated effluent into the environment.

County Director of Environment Muriithi Kiogora says the county government must set up an alternative waste disposal site to  replace the  Gioto dumpsite, which has become a threat to the environment and residents.

Then there is the issue of huge traffic jam that brings the town to a standstill in the morning and evening.

Experts say the completion of the dry port in Naivasha will impact heavily on the town if nothing is done on time.

Housing is another challenge that Nakuru faces.  A large number of houses the county government inherited from the defunct local authorities are dilapidated and in poor state.

County Director of Housing Maroke Maina says plans to upgrade slum dwelling through the Kenya Informal Settlement  Improvement Project are underway.

“With the plans underway, we want to look into projects that will make these houses easier to manage since most of them are very old,” Mr Maina said.