Two Murang’a towns set for infrastructure upgrade

Kenol and Kangari towns, two of the fast growing towns in Murang’a county are set to be upgraded into municipalities.

This will see the towns start getting funds for development projects from the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP).

During his recent visit to Murang’a county, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development James Macharia said Murang’a falls under the Nairobi metropolis, but it has has only one municipality.

Once upgraded, he said the towns will get funds to establish various projects, which will help improve the livelihoods of the people in the county.

“Most of the projects under KUSP are donor funded and once upgraded, the two towns will benefit from it,” he said.

The CS also said the government will construct a market to cater for the road side traders at Kenol who will be displaced following the expansion of the Kenol-Sagana road.

“We are looking for land to construct a modern market for the Kenol traders to give them a better environment to do their business,” he said.

A similar programme is being established in Kangari where a Sh345 million ultra-modern market funded by World Bank is under construction.

He said Kenol is strategically positioned being the gateway to the larger Mount Kenya region, and expansion of the Kenol-Sagana road, which is set to connect to the northern corridor shall be an economic game-changer for the town.

“We expect economic activities along this line to increase and this shall benefit the residents” he said.

Kenol has realised a tremendous increase in economic activities and consequently growth in population, its proximity to Nairobi being one of the main contributing factors. 

Lack of adequate essential facilities, such as the market, sewer system and tapped water are some of the challenges that the residents have been grappling with for years.

However, a Sh1.2 billion sewer line project aimed at serving the two towns is expected to solve the sanitation problem.

The project funded by the World Bank is being implemented by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation.

In addition, a mega landfill at Mitumbiri in Makuyu market shall help in waste management for these towns and the entire county at large.

Already, Murang’a municipality has received over Sh100 million to undertake various projects within its borders.

The board has installed cabros on various pavements within Murang’a town and renovated two passenger service vehicles termini giving the town a better look and ease movement of cars. Also several roads in the backstreets of the town have been tarmacked.

Benson Githinji the municipal board chairman said they are planning to do beautification of the town by planting trees and flowers along the road, establish recreational parks and put up street lighting. This he said, shall help in changing the look of the town and give it life.

He said they have applied for the expansion of its boundaries to cover a larger area so that more people can benefit from improved services. 

If ratified, the municipal shall be extended to Gaturi  area and capture part of Maragua.

“We were given the municipality, because we host the county headquarters, but we have not met the population threshold of 100,000 people as required” said Githinji.

One of the areas being targeted in the Mukuruwe wa Nyagathanga shrine, which is a few kilometers from Murang’a town, and the board is looking for ways to bring it back to life.

In 2019, the board signed a pact with Uplands Blue municipality in Sweden where the two would leverage on each other in a programme dubbed Twinning of Cities under the International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD).

The two municipalities are supposed to establish common projects for their residents funded by ICLD.