Welcome to Nakuru City! Nakuru has officially been designated as Kenya’s fourth city. The town was awarded a charter by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday. “Nakuru City will join Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi as cities. With a reputation as East Africa’s cleanest town, all of Kenya looks forward to Nakuru City growing by leaps and bounds,” President Uhuru had said on Tuesday during his State of the Nation address.
“I now roll [up my sleeves] to make Nakuru the best city in Kenya and Africa. Already, we have various projects underway that will restore the glory of Nakuru,” Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said during the charter presentation in Nakuru town.
The town’s population stands at 367,183, according to the Senate committee that scrutinized the city status application, surpassing the required population threshold of 250,000 people as per the criteria set in the law.
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Following the upgrade of Nakuru City, James Michoma ,a physical planning expert said: “The town will undergo an overhaul and be re-planned, in a bid to resolve the perennial problem of congestion especially in the central business district and main streets.”
Already, Bondeni is set for an upgrade after the government launched a multimillion-shilling affordable housing project. It is also building 605 housing units at a cost of Sh. 2 billion.
Nakuru City will be part of Nakuru County. Nakuru County has a population of 2,162,202 according to the 2019 census. It is the third most populous county in Kenya after Nairobi County and Kiambu County. With an area of 7,496.5 km², it is Kenya’s 19th largest county in size. Until August 21, 2010, it formed part of Rift Valley Province.
Surrounding towns include Lanet, which lies approximately 10 km from Nakuru is predominantly a residential town and is home to an army base. Njoro lies 20 km from Nakuru and is a small agricultural town with a local university aimed at promoting agricultural development in Kenya, namely Egerton University
