Kerosi Blog

Highlights of Nakuru County CIDP 2018-2022

Introduction

The name Nakuru means ‘a dusty place’ in the Maasai language-in reference to frequent whirlwinds that engulf the area with clouds of dust. According to Nakuru County development plan 2018 – 2022, the dominant communities in Nakuru County are Kikuyu and Kalenjin.

Nakuru is an agricultural rich County whose background was shaped by the early white settlement schemes. Lee Kinyanjui is the governor of Nakuru County and Dr. Erick Kipkoech Korir is the Deputy Governor.

Land Area & Population

Nakuru County already covers 7,498.8 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 2.1 million with 1,054,898 males and 1,049,490 females.

Administrative Units

The County is divided into 11 Sub-Counties/Constituencies namely; Naivasha, Nakuru Town West, Nakuru Town East, Kuresoi South, Kuresoi North, Molo, Rongai, Subukia, Njoro, Gilgil and Bahati. There are 55 wards in the County.

The County’s two major towns are; Nakuru Town which is the County’s headquarters and Naivasha town which is popular for both local and international tourism because of its proximity Nairobi the capital city of Kenya. Other urban centres spread across the County that include; Molo, Njoro, Gilgil, Mai Mahiu, Subukia, Salgaa and Rongai.

Read more: Kisii County CIDP 2018-2022

Underground hot springs in Olkaria are an important source of geothermal power that serves not only the county but also provides power supply to the national grid. Further Nakuru County development plan informs us that explorations are underway at Menengai Crater and Ol-Doinyo Eburru with a view to generating more electricity.

Main tourist attractions and activities

 The National Parks are the major tourist attractions in the County. These are; Lake Nakuru National park, Hell’s Gate National Park and Mt. Longonot National Park. Other tourist sites include; Menengai Crater, Subukia Shrine, Lord Egerton Castle, Lake Naivasha, Lake Elementaita, Hyrax hill prehistoric site, Ol-doinyo Eburru volcano and Mau forest.

Read More: Irregular Compensation to Employees in Nakuru County

The main tourist activities include; bird watching, hiking, picnics, excursions and game drives. During the period 2018-2022 the County will map out other tourist sites in order to promote domestic tourism

Main Wildlife

Black and white rhinos thrive in the surrounding national parks, which also has its fair share of Cape buffalos, African wild dogs, Zebras, Elands, Waterbucks, Baboons, Velvet Monkeys, Columbus Monkeys, Giraffes, Impalas, Thomson Gazelles, Bush Bucks, Reed Bucks, Warthogs, Lions and flamingos on the shores of Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita. Recently there has been increased number of Leopard sightings and the rare Rothschild’s Giraffe.

Tertiary Education

 According to Nakuru County development plan there is one Public and one private University namely; Egerton and Kabarak with 13 university campuses, four teachers training colleges, 15 institute of Technology and two Technical training institutes. Nakuru County is partnering with Egerton University in the implementation of the proposed AgriCity project in Njoro sub-county.

Previous Nakuru County development plan 2013- 2017

 Provides a summary of the County’s total revenue during the plan period. The County’s revenue cumulatively amounted to Ksh 40.9 billion against a target of Ksh 44.5 billion depicting a deviation of Ksh 3.58 billion. This depicts a deviation of 9 percent on account of under-performance in local revenue. Equitable share and conditional grants amounted to Ksh 32.7 billion whereas local revenue performance including FIF for the period amounted to Ksh 8.16 billion against a target of Ksh 11.7 billion.

Notable Achievements according to the Nakuru County development plan 2013-2017

• construction of 145 ECDE classrooms,
• Construction and equipping of 25 Youth Polytechnics.
• Approximately 4000 km of road network were graded and graveled,
• 95 km of roads were tarmacked and
• 1078 streetlights installed.
• Established 13 plant health clinics in Subukia and Nakuru North sub counties and trained a total of 20 plant doctors.
• The Housing Directorate established three Appropriate Building Technology (ABT) centres in Molo, Kagoto and Mirera polytechnic that are geared towards enhancing and promoting the adoption of affordable building technologies and capacity development.
• A total of 500 artisans were trained on appropriate building technologies.
• issued about 200 leases to plot owners and has initiated planning of seven centres which include: Lengenet, Nessuit, Olenguruone, Mau summit, Old Kijabe and Salgaa.
• The County scaled up Open Free Defecation (ODF) villages from zero in 2013 to 326 in 2017.
• Nakuru Level-5 Hospital and the Naivasha Level-4 Hospital received modern imaging, ICU, Renal and theater equipment under the National Managed Equipment and Supplies Program (MES)
• The Nakuru Hospice has continued to play a vital role in palliative care of the terminally ill in addition to awareness creation for early screening and treatment.
• Constructed 145 ECDE classrooms within the County towards improving quality and access to early childhood learning.
• Renovation of the Afraha stadium to improve the sitting capacity ahead of the 2016 National Madaraka Day celebrations which were hosted at the stadium.

Nakuru County development plan 2018-2022

In the Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sector, the County targets to tarmac 79 Kilometers of road; gravel 3,500 Kilometers of roads; install 3000 streetlights, construct four fire-stations, a high capacity underground storage tank and acquire two fire engines for disaster management.

Read More: 10 causes of growth of government expenditure 

County targets to upgrade five health facilities to Level-4, upgrade Naivasha Sub County Hospital to Level-5 and Nakuru Provincial General Hospital (PGH) to Level-6 towards achieving universal health care for all, while reducing disease burden associated with environmental health risk factors and unhealthy lifestyles.

Purchase of Cemetery land, screening and management of Non-communicable diseases has also been prioritized.

Industrialization initiatives will be exploited through the Lord Egerton AgriCity project, Rongai Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Park and Naivasha Industrial Park.

1. Construction of Slaughter houses  at a cost Ksh. 600 M
2. Plant clinics established and plant doctors hired= Ksh. 39 M;
3. Rehabilitation of estates = Ksh. 300 M;
4. Construction of sewer lines = Ksh. 125 M;
5. Construction and equipping of five (5) fire stations
6. 300 million to establish free wi-fi hotspots, install e-signage boards, branding of county assets;
7. 910 million to install CCTV cameras, connect sites with Local Area Network (LAN), establish a data centre, acquire ERP,
8. Spend Ksh. 25 billion for payment of salaries, promotion, recruit health sector employees;
9. Five (5) Billion to purchase drugs and other health commodities, construct and equip theaters at Sub-County hospitals,
10. Ksh. 1.025 billion to construct 166 ECDE centers per year, construct toilet blocks; rehabilitate ECDE classrooms; and provide Free ECDE education among other activities;
11. Ksh. 551 million for bursary funds;
12. Ksh. 55 million for public budget participation forums conducted;

Flagships Projects 

• Development of Fish Market along Nakuru – Nairobi highway – Ksh. 40 m
• Fertilizer-cost-reduction investment – Ksh. 350 M;
• Pyrethrum revival program through increasing accessibility to planting materials = Ksh. 330 M;
• Promotion of nontraditional cash crops (Macadamia & Avocado) = Ksh. 450 million;
• Urban Renewal and Development through 3,000 housing units at Naivasha, Kimathi, Flamingo Estates = Ksh. 10 billion;
• Integrated strategic urban development plan for Molo, Njoro and Gilgil – Ksh. 400 Million;
• Mai Mahiu Action Plan – Guide development around the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) terminus and special economic zone = Ksh. 30 M;
• Kenya urban support programme to support establishment of Municipal Boards and support infrastructure = Ksh. 800 M;
• Tarmacking of key urban centres (Subukia, Bahati, Nakuru, Naivasha, Gilgil, Molo, Olenguruone, Maimahiu) at a cost of Ksh. 900 M;
• Improvement of main Bus park (Subukia, Kabazi, Gilgil, Molo, Njoro, MaiMahiu, Mau- Narok, Mwisho wa lami, Olenguruone, Keringet and Kuresoi town) Ksh. 200 million;
• Establish a data Centre – Ksh. 200 M;
• Installation of CCTV cameras at Nakuru CBD & Naivasha at a cost of Ksh. 300 Million;
• Electronic Medical Records and Information communication technology – Ksh. 110 million;
• Modernization of health facilities (Gilgil, Subukia and Bahati level 4 hospitals) to offer better services = Ksh. 1.2 Billion;
• Modernization of health facilities (Molo and Olenguruone) Ksh. 1 Billion;
• Upgrade PGH Nakuru into a teaching and Referral Hospital at a cost of Ksh. 4 billion;
• Upgrade Naivasha Sub County Hospital to Level 5 facility = Ksh. 500 million;
• Establishment and operationalization of Nakuru Cancer centre at PGH at cost of Ksh. 1.5 B;
• Establish Lord Egerton AgriCity towards increasing food security and investments creating 5,000 new jobs. Nakuru County Government to contribute Ksh. 50 million and $1 billion invested by companies;
• Business incubation centres = Ksh. 120 M;
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation by growing at least 1 million trees per year at a cost of Ksh. 500 M;
• Kabugi dam and Treatment works (Gilgil Sub County; Morendat Ward) at a cost of Ksh. 200M; to increase reservoir area, relocate those around the dam, purchase and lay pipes;
• Solar power Installation in Pumping Schemes = Ksh. 250 M;
• Mawalebo Dam Rongai Sub County ; Mosop ward on upper Rongai river, Ksh. 100M;
• Gitiri Dam Water project in Kinangop subcounty (Construction of mega earth dam with a 24m high embankment wall Dam across river gitiri) at a cost of Ksh. 250 M to serve 50,000 people.
• Emaragishu borehole at Rongai subcounty- Solai Ward including construction of 20 km of pipeline network at a cost of Ksh. 50M;
• Itare Dam Water Project at Kuresoi To address water shortages in Nakuru Town, Kuresoi, Molo, Njoro and Rongai at a cost of Kshs 30 Billion in collaboration with the NG.
• Model Conference Centre to be constructed a cost of Ksh. 200 Million;
• Construction of Governor’s residence estimated to cost Nakuru County government Ksh. 70 Million;

Resource Requirements  

The Count requires an estimated Ksh 140 billion to finance proposed interventions in the integrated plan. This include an estimated Ksh 83 billion financing normal County expenditure needs as well as Ksh 57 billion for financing selected flagship projects. This is against a forecasted resource envelope of Ksh 76 billion mainly from County Own Source Revenues (OSR) and national transfers in form of equitable share of revenues and conditional grants.

Read More: Nakuru County MCA’s  express disappointment over drug crisis

Other measures aimed at bridging the resource gap according to Nakuru County development plan include engaging Private Parties through PPP approach specifically in affordable housing projects, maximizing on Kenya Urban Support Programme on upgrading of urban infrastructure, exploring the possible benefit sharing agreements with National Government on the natural resources in the County.