Eldoret: The Reality of Kenya’s Newest City

Eldoret’s recent conferment to city status in August 2024 by President William Ruto brought high expectations for accelerated economic growth and modernized urban management. The Uasin Gishu County administration has been quick to inaugurate the first City Board and establish a service charter outlining explicit timelines for business licensing, urban planning, and municipal services like waste collection. The vision is to build a “Smart, Liveable, and Inclusive” city, with the administration eager to harness investment opportunities, particularly in the sports economy and light manufacturing. However, the transition from a municipality to a fully functioning city is already testing the local government’s capacity to balance administrative efficiency with the turbulent reality of local politics.

Eldoret was recently elevated to city status.
Eldoret was recently elevated to city status. Source: Kageni Joe / Getty Images

The most glaring manifestation of this friction is in the healthcare sector, which has been severely disrupted by persistent labor disputes. By mid-2026, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) had paralyzed public health services across Uasin Gishu County, including within Eldoret city. The striking nurses and healthcare workers accuse Governor Jonathan Bii’s administration of failing to implement a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that dates back to 2017, delaying promotions, and failing to convert Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff to permanent and pensionable terms. The situation has grown so severe that nurses have frequently marched through the streets of Eldoret and staged sit-ins at the county headquarters, demanding that the administration prioritize their welfare over political posturing.

The crisis in Eldoret perfectly illustrates the devolution dilemma: while the county leadership attempts to rebrand the city and attract investment, essential service delivery is held hostage by unresolved, highly politicized administrative failures. Residents and union officials have publicly accused some county executives of focusing more on their 2027 political ambitions than on resolving the crippling strikes. When a newly minted city cannot keep its hospital doors open because funds and attention are diverted by political wrangling, the promise of elevated urban status rings hollow. For Eldoret to truly thrive as a regional metropolis, the county administration must prove it can insulate its municipal and healthcare services from the constant disruptions of Kenya’s election cycle.

References:

The Standard Nurses strike paralyses healthcare services in Rift Valley counties

The Star Uasin Gishu nurses down tools over pay dispute

Nakuru’s Growing Pains: How Political Gridlock Stalls Kenya’s Newest City

SUMMARY

Nakuru’s promotion to city status brought hope for better public services and modern growth. Instead, political fights between local leaders and budget delays have slowed down real development. Critical funds sit unused while basic infrastructure crumbles. At the same time, public healthcare suffers from unresolved labor disputes, and city services often go to political allies rather than qualified experts. For Nakuru to become a true economic hub, the city must choose administrative competence over political games.

Nakuru’s recent elevation to city status carried the promise of modernized urban management, but the reality is frequently hijacked by local political theater. As the county executive and the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) maneuver ahead of the 2027 elections, budget standoffs have become the norm rather than the exception. Local media continuously cover these assembly wrangles, where MCAs hold county budgets hostage to secure ward-level patronage funds. This political gridlock directly delays the formation and empowerment of municipal boards, meaning critical urban infrastructure funds—such as those from the World Bank’s Kenya Devolution Support Program (KDSP)—often lie idle while the city’s drainage and solid waste management systems decay.

NAKURU, KENYA – 2022/08/15: A poster with the image of Kenya Kwanza Alliance presidential candidate, William Ruto, is seen on Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru City ahead of the presidential declaration of the winner of the just concluded general election. (Photo by James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The most immediate victim of this political distraction in Nakuru is the healthcare sector. While the county administration has made publicized attempts to stabilize its workforce—such as recently transitioning over 300 health workers to permanent terms—these efforts are constantly swallowed by the wider context of unresolved, politicized labor disputes. News reports have painted a grim picture at the Nakuru Level 5 Hospital during the nationwide clinical officers’ and nurses’ strikes. Because political leaders failed to honor previously negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) in favor of funding other political priorities, patients in Nakuru are frequently turned away from locked public wards, forcing the urban poor to seek expensive private care or face fatal consequences.

Ultimately, Nakuru’s dilemma is that its city planning is subordinated to political loyalty. When municipal tenders for basic services like street lighting or garbage collection are awarded to political cronies rather than competent contractors, the city’s aesthetic and functional appeal plummets. Instead of a technically driven city management team, the administration is burdened by a politically motivated workforce. For a city aspiring to be a regional economic hub, this continuous cycle of prioritizing voter mobilization over administrative competence threatens to permanently stall Nakuru’s urban development.

References:

Daily Nation Uncertainty for residents, businesses in Nakuru amid ‘total shutdown’ plan

KTN News Kenya Nakuru clinical officers threaten to withdraw remaining staff as strike enters 38th day

Tuko 6 Nakuru Lands Officials Charged in KSh 50 Million Procurement Scandal

From “JurisPesa” Whispers to Radical Transparency

The term “JurisPesa,” popularized by Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, was once a controversial allegation that led the Supreme Court to ban his firm in 2024 for scandalizing the bench. However, by 2026, the judiciary has transitioned from punitive silencing toward an era of radical engagement. This was signaled by a landmark consultative meeting in February 2026, where Chief Justice Martha Koome hosted her fiercest critics—including Ahmednasir and Nelson Havi—to address systemic barriers and the “commodification of justice” head-on.

This shift reflects an evolution from the leadership of former Chief Justice David Maraga, who focused on institutional building and initial automation, to Koome’s “Social Transformation through Access to Justice” (STAJ) blueprint. While Maraga laid the groundwork for electronic filing during the pandemic, the current administration is moving toward “constitutional textualism,” prioritizing substantive justice over the procedural technicalities that previously allowed “rogue” actors to hide behind the law.

The battle for integrity is now anchored in the 2026 Judicial Service Regulations, which simplify the removal of judges by allowing anonymous whistleblower petitions and institutional motions based on internal intelligence. This procedural evolution is designed to transform rumors into investigated facts, moving away from the era where individual misconduct was handled in isolation. The successful removal of Judge Juma Chitembwe remains a cornerstone precedent for this new, more aggressive era of judicial self-correction.

References:

I.CONnect ‘JurisPesa’: Confronting Corruption in Kenya’s Judiciary

The Lawyer Africa Supreme Court Lifts Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC Ban After 2-Year Suspension: AG (for CS Interior) vs. Nguruman Ltd SC Petition No. E015 of 2025

Legal Express Kenya A detailed guide on the newly published Judicial Service (Petition for Removal of a Judge) (Procedure) Regulations, 2026, illustrating how the public and insider routes are designed to enforce institutional accountability.

Dismantling ‘JurisPesa’: Kenya’s Intelligence-Led War on Judicial Corruption and the Road to 2027

Welcome to Jijuze_The Kenyan Pulse! In this special edition, we go behind the scenes of a judicial system in the midst of a high-stakes makeover. As the 2027 General Election approaches, the Kenyan Judiciary is no longer just defending itself against accusations of “JurisPesa”—it is actively re-engineering the bench to ensure that justice is neither a commodity nor a political tool. From a historic “peace summit” with its fiercest critics to the deployment of intelligence-led surveillance in court corridors, this is the story of an institution fighting for its soul.

The journey from the leadership of Chief Justice Emeritus David Maraga to the current tenure of Chief Justice Martha Koome marks a shift from building constitutional foundations to aggressive operational enforcement. While the previous era focused on institutional independence and the initial digital response to the pandemic, the current administration is weaponizing technology and intelligence to dismantle systemic “cartels” that rely on brokers and enablers to facilitate bribery. This evolution is fueled by a new, multi-agency offensive that brings together the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to turn “whispers in court corridors” into verified, actionable facts.

Here is a sneak peek into the key highlights of this unfolding legal adventure:

  • The “JurisPesa” Peace Summit: On February 3, 2026, the Judiciary broke tradition by hosting a consultative meeting with its most vocal critics, signaling a radical new openness to dialogue and systemic reform.
  • The Intelligence-Led Offensive: A deep dive into the partnership between the courts and the national spy agency (NIS) to proactively map corruption “hotspots” and intercept unethical patterns before they reach the bench.
  • The Digital Paywall: How 100% digitization of court payments and the “Uadilifu” case management system are effectively locking out the human “brokers” who once thrived on physical cash and registry delays.
  • The 2027 Gatekeepers: A look at the high-pressure recruitment for the Supreme Court, where the search is on for “judicial shock absorbers” capable of withstanding the inevitable political firestorms of the next election cycle.
  • Accountability in Action: The impact of the new 2026 Judicial Service Regulations, which have already streamlined the removal of individual judges and transformed how the public reports misconduct.

Join us as we explore whether these structural “shock absorbers” will be enough to shield the Republic in moments of national tension, or if the deeply rooted culture of “commodified justice” will find new ways to adapt. This is the heartbeat of the law—this is Jijuze_The Kenyan Pulse!

Nairobi Rising—A Multi-Billion Shilling Gamble on the Future

Nairobi is currently undergoing an Sh80 billion transformation under the “Nairobi Rising” agenda, an ambitious intergovernmental pact designed to pull the capital out of its cycle of disaster. The roadmap includes a Sh25 billion overhaul of the city’s drainage and a Sh33 billion investment in expanding sewer systems and restoring polluted waterways. This represents the most significant attempt in recent history to decouple the city’s stormwater from its sewage, a move intended to end the perennial outbreaks of cholera and typhoid that follow every flood.

A central pillar of this new vision is the decommissioning of the notorious Dandora dumpsite. Long a source of environmental and health risks, Dandora is slated to be replaced by a modern waste-to-energy plant in Ruai that will generate between 45 and 70 megawatts of electricity. By transitioning to a circular economy, the government hopes to eliminate the plastic debris that currently chokes the city’s drains, which costs an estimated KES 4.5 billion annually in reactive mitigation.

However, the success of “Nairobi Rising” hinges on institutional reform and accountability. The plan includes the creation of a specialized Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit to enforce zoning laws and protect reclaimed riparian land, but critics warn of the “financial hangover” left by previous interventions. For the residents of Nairobi, the stakes could not be higher; as the April 2026 waste management launch approaches, the city is betting billions that it can finally build the resilience needed to survive its own growth.

References:

Capital News Sewerage and Sanitation Take Centre Stage in Nairobi’s Sh80bn Development Plan

People Daily Ruto unveils plan for a major overhaul of Dandora dumpsite

Big 3 Africa Nairobi Waste to Energy Transformation