What award of city charter will mean to Eldoret residents

Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan flags of a procession to mark Eldoret City MSEs Expo event in Eldoret. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Eldoret, a town nestled in expansive maize farms in Uasin Gishu County, is getting ready for city status.

President William Ruto is set to grant the town a city charter on Thursday.

Already, the sprucing up of the North Rift's largest town and commercial hub is climaxing ahead of the Thursday ceremony.

Signages destroyed by angry protesters in late June are being reinstalled with teams completing beautification works.

The clamor to have Eldoret, a town that has since earned the 'City of Champions' status elevated to the country's fifth city after Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru started in 2018.

A number of changes are set to accompany the much-anticipated city status of President Ruto's hometown.

Eldoret Municipality manager Tito Koiyet says the town's spatial plan will be changed to accommodate skyscrapers as proposed by the Senate Devolution Committee last year.

"The planning of the town will be horizontal and vertical. It will encourage tall buildings so that we don't expand to agricultural areas and lose our status as an agricultural hub," says Koiyet.

In recent years, the town with a projected population of over 500,000, has witnessed increased investments. According to the 2019 census, the town had 475,716 people.

"The expectations among Uasin Gishu residents are many. We expect more investments, visibility and an increased number of middle class," says Koiyet.

He says ongoing upgrade of stadia including Kipchoge Keino and 64 Stadium and other sporting facilities is set to reinforce Eldoret's status as the City of Champions.

An ad-hoc community established in May 2022 presented a report that was approved by Uasin Gishu County Assembly and later adopted by the Senate.

Last year, the committee recommended that Eldoret be granted city status.

In August last year, the Senate Committee on Devolution called for the town's expanded sewerage infrastructure and when the national government fast-tracks the completion of the Eldoret Eastern by-pass.

According to the committee, Eldoret scored highly in indexes such as road infrastructure within the town, emergency response structures, health facilities, and one of the country's largest airports - the Eldoret International Airport among other amenities.

The town's sports heritage was also primed as a critical pillar in the elevation of Eldoret as a city. The committee, led by its chairman, Wajir Senator Sheikh Abbas had said Eldoret would meet the requirements for city status by early this year.

"The proposed expansion of the Eldoret International Airport is part of the process. The town has to show that it can ease trade if it attains city status," Senator Abbas says.

Abbas says his committee was impressed with road network projects adding that most of the transport infrastructure projects were complete. The committee started their tour of Eldoret on Thursday. It was acting on a county ad-hoc committee established earlier this year, which recommended the elevation of the North Rift town to the country's newest city.

After four years of infrastructure upgrade and establishment of a municipality board, the race to elevate Eldoret to a city started with a number of false starts in 2021, with the Senate rejecting a proposal put forward by Uasin Gishu county.

If Uasin Gishu succeeds in its push, Eldoret will be the second Rift Valley town to attain city status after Nakuru, which was awarded charter by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in December 2021.

Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka says the committee, during the 2023 assessment of Eldoret's preparedness for city status, looked at National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) reports, water supply, sewerage and made recommendations for improvement.

Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii exuded confidence that the county's investment in road and sewerage infrastructure made it easy for it to attain city status.

"I am happy that the process is happening. I can confirm to the Senate committee that we are in the direction," the Governor said.