Laikipia County to transform 10 urban centres into modern metropolises

Laikipia County’s smart towns initiative portends fresh opportunities for investment, as the county seeks ways of accommodating a spurt in po­pulation growth in recent years fuelled by rising immigration.

In April, the county unveiled its ambitious plan to upgrade 10 market centres into modern towns in the next three years.

“Smart towns will definitely attract new people and will come with a lot of activities in tourism and investment,” said Mr Biwott Tirop, the County Executive Committee Member for Trade, Tourism and Cooperative Development. Mr Tirop anticipates an increase in demand for housing in the new urban centres.

“For starters, there will be a rise in demand for land. People would want to be associated with a smart town. And since the towns will be well lit, we might start having a 24-hour economy. We expect renewed interest in the new-look towns even from Kenyans in the diaspora.”

UPGRADE

In April, a consultant unveiled to the public the artistic impression of Wiyumiririe town centre, which will be the first of the three centres to be upgraded this financial year. The impression showed a well-planned urban centre, replete with leafy public parks, paved streets, markets and pedestrian walkways. The smart towns initiative is expected to spur business growth in the selected centres, while creating new job opportunities.

“We are starting with Ol Jabet, Wiyumiririe and Naibor this financial year, while the rest will follow in the subsequent financial years,” said Mr Joseph Shuel, the county executive committee member for Infrastructure. Consultants have been carrying out physical planning, baseline studies, aerial surveys and digitised plans in the first three centres.

“What we are launching are the plans to provoke the people’s ideas on what they would like their towns to look like,” said Mr Muchiri Gitonga, the county’s Director of Communications. “We started public engagements with the residents of the towns, starting with Wiyumiririe. We wanted to trigger the debate among residents on how their towns should look.”

The county says it is experiencing rapid population growth due to an influx of people. Most of these newcomers prefer settling in urban centres, which underlines the need to have organised, better-managed and people-friendly urban centres.

“We want to create alternative areas for business,” Mr Muchiri said. “It is easier and cheaper, for instance, to buy a plot in Wiyumiririe than in Nanyuki. We expect that a lot of investors will come into the new towns, along with settlers, to the areas surrounding the towns. It will translate to a better environment for businesses in Laikipia, more employment, and higher revenues for the county.”

The implementation of the projects will result in well-planned urban centres, with cobblestone-paved streets and markets, better drainage systems, street lighting and proper solid waste management plans. Roads and streets will also be named and put on Google Maps to create an address system.

PLANS

“Businesses will have proper addresses, the way it happens in some developed countries,” Mr Muchiri told DN2 on phone. “The consultant is on board to help with the mapping, and the residents are involved in the decision-making. The residents will decide where to place the cemeteries, public parks and so on. At the end of the day, the residents will be the ones to maintain the towns.”

Pedestrian walkways and public parks will be created, and the county will enforce building codes to turn the centres into modern towns with the aim of attracting more investments around them.

Upgrading key urban centres by developing and improving their road designs, drainage, street lighting, and solid waste management systems was one of the pillars of Governor Ndiritu Muriithi’s election manifesto.

The manifesto, which has since been harmonised with the County Integrated Development Plan and subjected to public participation, also envisions the creation of Internet hotspots in the county’s urban centres with populations above 1,000 persons. Mr Muchiri said that the smart towns will enhance the confidence of Laikipia residents in their county.

“We want to restore hope among our residents that they, too, can live in good, smart towns. We want to give them a good feeling about their towns and greater confidence in their county. We want them to see that they can own a nice town which looks and feels like London.”

During the implementation of the projects, preference will be given to manual road works in order to create jobs. Youths will be trained in various construction works while a few will be foremen and small contractors to undertake the work. The county government will implement the programme in ten towns within its first three years in office. Laikipia County has four major urban centres – Nanyuki, Rumuruti, Nyahururu, and Kinamba. Nanyuki and Nyahururu, which respectively served as the administrative headquarters of the former Laikipia and Nyandarua districts, are the county’s biggest towns.