Nakuru City is the headquarters of Nakuru County. The Office of the Governor, the County Assembly of Nakuru, the Offices of the Regional, County Commissioner and many other offices are based here.
Previously, the town was the seat of the Rift Valley Province.
Nakuru is the fourth-largest urban centre in Kenya. The first three are Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. Following the Senate of Kenya’s approval in June, President Uhuru Kenyatta chartered Nakuru on 1 December 2021 to become a city.
Estates in/around Nakuru Town
Nakuru Town has a large population that lives in its estates and suburbs. The estates right next to the CBD include; Milimani, Langalanga, London, Shabab, Industrial Area, Bangladesh, Section 58, Naka, Bondeni and Free Area.
Others are Kiamunyi, Flamingo, Kivumbini, Kisulisuli, Rhoda, Kimathi, and Kaptembwa among others.
Section 58 and Milimani are considered highrise estates and are a favourite for the well-to-do and middle class of Nakuru. The two estates, and especially Milimani do not even have public transport means as most residents either own cars or use taxis.
Transport in Nakuru Town
Movement in and around Nakuru is relatively easy. Matatus serve every estate (except Milimani) and the satellite towns around Nakuru. Additionally, there are Taxis, cabs, tuk-tuks and bodabodas (both bicycle and motorcycles).
Matatus in Nakuru are fairly well organized. Mololine Services which is Kenya’s precursor of organized public transport was founded in Nakuru in 1995.
Mololine Matatus serve the Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret route. In 2016, the Sacco opened a modern matatu terminus in Milimani estate.
Other popular matatu Saccos that serve long-distance travellers include Prestige Shuttle, Crossland, 4NTE, 2NK, Kangaroo Shuttle and Western among others.
Taxi services in Nakuru Town
Before 2019, there were no Taxi-hailing apps in Nakuru. Uber had tried to penetrate the market earlier but had quickly made an exit when they failed to break even. Then came Wasili Taxi cabs.
Founded by two friends, the founders of Wasili were able to find a business model that worked and their cabs became rapidly popular.
Within no time, the success of Wasili spawned an upsurge of new taxi-hailing cabs. Within a year, Nakuru now has over 10 such taxi-hailing apps with even the “big boys” like Bolt (Taxify) claiming a piece of the pie.
Life in Nakuru Town
Life in Nakuru is relatively cheap compared to other major towns in Kenya. Residential houses are cheap, food is readily available at low prices and transport is cheap. A good per cent of those who live in estates around town don’t even pay for transport as they prefer to walk.
Education in Nakuru
Businesses
Hospitality
Social Services in Nakuru
Road Network in Nakuru
Recreation in Nakuru Town
Political Leadership
From Kenya’s independence in 1963 to the year 2007, Nakuru Town was managed as a single Constituency. The 2010 constitution, however, split the Nakuru Town Constituency into two, Nakuru Town East and Nakuru Town West. The following are the MPs who have represented Nakuru since independence.
- 1963-1966 – Achieng’ Oneko
- 1967-1976 – Mark Mwithaga
- 1977-1979 – Willy Komen
- 1980-1983 – Mark Mwithaga
- 1984-1992 – Amos Kabiru Kimemia
- 1993-1997 – J.C Lwali Oyondi
- 1998-2002 – David Manyara
- 2003-2006 – Mirugi Kariuki
- 2006-2007 – William Kariuki
- 2008-2013 – Lee Kinyanjui
- 2013-2017 – David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East)
- 2013-2017 – Samuel Arama (Nakuru Town West)
- 2018 – David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East)
- 2018 – Samuel Arama (Nakuru Town West)