Senate adopts motion conferring city status to Eldoret Town

Senate adopts report to elevate Eldoret Town to a City. [Peter Ochieng, Standard] The Senate has adopted a motion by the Senate Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee conferring City status to Eldoret Town in Uasin Gishu County. In a report presented before the house by Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka who is a member of the committee, Senators unanimously supported the plans to make Eldoret a city saying that the town was ripe for the status. Onyonka told the house that Eldoret Municipality had met the criteria to be granted city status with the committee having met various stakeholders when it toured the city to assess its readiness to become the fifth city in the country after Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru. The Senator said the committee took a guided tour across the town with a public participation held in the town which has more than 250,000 residents with an integrated urban development plan and capacity to generate revenue to sustain itself. "The town of Eldoret has infrastructural facilities including roads, markets, fire station, airport among other facilities that satisfied the Devolution Committee that it was qualified to be granted city status, I call upon all Senators to support this motion," said Onyonka. The report by the committee was seconded by Nominated Senator Beatrice Ogolla who said the urban areas and cities act provides the requirements for a town to be granted city status of which Eldoret Town meets all of them. "The essence of the urban areas and cities act is to ensure that they are able to generate revenue and efficiently and effectively manage their services, the residents must have adequate water, must have improved health facilities, sewerage plans in place and good infrastructure," said Ogolla. Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale supported the motion saying that the requirement that a city should have a population of at least 250,000 was not fair since it was denying many towns across the country that chance saying that was old school of thinking saying it should be based on infrastructure. Khalwale said that Eldoret is ripe to be a city since it has got opportunities for investment, it has land for expansion and that it should be granted city status so that the area leadership can plan for the future now and it can provide a paradigm shift in land ownership in the country. "As I support Eldoret we should realise that there is opportunity for tourism in Eldoret since it is regarded as the home of champions with International athletes coming from the area which will provide a chance for the creation of athletic villages which will attract international athletes," said Khalwale. Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang said that the country needs 47 cities since currently the majority of Kenyans live in urban areas and that counties should be ready to have their headquarters conferred with the new status by having the necessary requirements in place. Kajwang told the house that he chaired the committee that recommended the granting of Nakuru City status in the last parliament and said that it was long overdue for Eldoret to be granted city status. The Homa Bay Senator said that Eldoret has got a golden opportunity of having a city that can be replicated in other areas since it has land for building the city unlike other cities which have land scarcity. "We need more cities, there is no reason why each county should not have a city, that is why I am supporting this motion to have Eldoret Town be granted city status," said Kajwang. Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana supported the motion to grant Eldoret Town city status terming it as having good infrastructure and that makes it qualify for the new status. Mungatana called on Governors from various counties to work towards developing their towns so that they can qualify to be conferred city status. Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago said that the people of the county are eagerly waiting for the fastest growing town becoming the fifth city in the country after Mandago urged Kenyans from all over the country to invest in Eldoret which has land for expansion and other facilities required for a city. "I would like to thank the late President Daniel Arap Moi for having a vision that Eldoret will one day become a city by ensuring that an international airport was built among other infrastructure facilities," said Mandago.

Senate adopts motion conferring city status to Eldoret Town

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Senate adopts motion conferring city status to Eldoret Town

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