The Senate has approved Eldoret as Kenya’s fifth city

The Senate has approved Eldoret as Kenya’s fifth city

The Senate has approved Eldoret as Kenya’s fifth city

Eldoret’s application to become the fifth Kenyan city was granted by the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations on Wednesday. Eldoret, according to the Senate Committee’s report, satisfies all standards set forth in Section 5 and the First Schedule of the Urban Areas and Cities Act of 2011. President William Ruto resides at the county seat of Uasin Gishu, Eldoret. Before it can join Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru as the fifth city, Ruto must give his consent.

In 2021, Nakuru received city status. Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii responded to the news by saying, “We now eagerly await the charter that will officially grant us the status of the fifth city.” The Committee highlighted in its report that it had consulted with the leadership of Uasin Gishu County, the National Government, and the leadership of the Senate, led by Speaker Amason Kingi, during the evaluation of Eldoret. In accordance with the law, the Senate Devolution Committee also solicited input from Eldoret inhabitants on their opinions regarding the upgrade of their municipality to city status. A town must have more than 250,000 citizens in order to be designated as a city. Eldoret has a population of 475,716 as reported by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The Committee stated that the municipality “has the capacity to generate sufficient revenue to sustain its operation” because of its potential revenue of Sh2.5 billion and the highest actual collection of Sh900 million in the most recent fiscal year. According to the Urban Areas and Cities Act of 2011, the President may, upon the Senate’s decision, provide a charter in the required format to a municipality that satisfies the requirements for the status of a city. Other prerequisites for granting a municipality city status include an integrated urban area or city development plan, a track record of responsible management, and a good system that can be demonstrated.

Additionally, the municipality must have infrastructure to support it, including but not limited to roads, street lighting and markets, and an adequate capacity for disaster management as well as a capacity for functional and effective waste disposal.