Senate approves bill to elevate Nakuru town to a city
The long and winding journey of acquiring city status has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel after the Senate adopted a bill elevating Nakuru town to a city.
Senators approved a report by Senate’s Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’.
According to Kajwang’, the committee found that the municipality has a population of 392,587 as of 2019 surpassing the 250,000 mark set in the Act.
“It has also come up with a spatial development framework 2014-2034. The municipality has demonstrated capacity to generate sufficient revenue to sustain its operation at 54 per cent (Sh996,448,592) of the total county revenue (Sh1,853,568,732) in the 2018/2019 financial year and Sh708,109,628 in the 2019/2020 fiscal period,” said Kajwang’.
All Senators present voted to support a motion by the House Devolution Committee that approved a petition seeking to elevate Nakuru’s status with only two voting against it.
When Governor Lee Kinyanjui took over as the county’s governor, he formed a technical committee to steer the process.
Nakuru, the administrative capital of Rift Valley and one of the fastest-growing urban centres, is the fourth largest town in Kenya after Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
After the Senate’s approval, the report will be handed over to President Uhuru Kenyatta for further approval, paving way for Nakuru town to become the fourth city in line with the Urban Areas and Cities Act.
