Nakuru seeks to elevate Molo and Gilgil towns to municipalities
A view of Molo town in Nakuru County in this photo taken on June 27, 2021.
What you need to know:
According to the Urban Areas and Cities Act, for a town to be elevated to a municipality it should have a population of at least 50,000 residents.
Gilgil Sub-County has a population of 185,209 while Molo Sub-County has a population of 156,732 people as per the 2019 Kenya population census.
Buoyed by its elevation into a city, Nakuru County now plans to elevate Gilgil and Molo towns to municipalities with an aim of attracting more investors.
This comes after the successful adoption of a report by the Department of Lands, Housing and Physical Planning during a Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.
These upgrades, according to Governor Lee Kinyanjui, will make the towns safe, beautiful and competitive for investment as they will be classified and will have a legal status for urban management and policies and systems.
“In order to attract investment and institutionalize urban planning in our towns, the County Government of Nakuru is considering the upgrade of Gilgil and Molo to municipalities,” said the Governor.
However, to achieve this, a committee will first be appointed to evaluate if the two urban centers meet the criteria set in the law for conferment of municipality status.
The findings will later be forwarded to the County Assembly before being passed.
“If the ad hoc committee finds the municipal status requirements met, we will submit the report to the County Assembly for its consideration and upon approval by the Assembly, I shall award the charter to the two towns,” added the county boss.
Infrastructure upgrades
According to the Urban Areas and Cities Act, for a town to be elevated to a municipality it should have a population of at least 50,000 residents.
Gilgil Sub-County has a population of 185,209 while Molo Sub-County has a population of 156,732 people as per the 2019 Kenya population census.
The two upon elevation will become the third and fourth municipalities in Nakuru county after Nakuru town and Naivasha.
The two Sub Counties have been having infrastructure upgrades including the demolition of the old toll station at the Gilgil weighbridge in a move to modernize some of its structure as explained by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
The Senate last month adopted a report by the Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, paving the way for Nakuru to become the fourth city in Kenya. The other cities are Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
During the session, 38 senators voted in support of the elevation, whereas two rejected it.
The report was presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta who is expected to give Nakuru a city charter.
