-
He was speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the second Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) at the State House.
-
Ruto further stated that municipalities are vital to the counties as they ensure that pressure is not concentrated on a few towns.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto has emphasized the need to decongest Nairobi to create alternative settlements in smaller towns.
He suggested that the Department of Urban Planning should also be working towards decongesting five other major metropolises in the country as well.
The President said this would solve the competition between land for settlement and agriculture, resulting in stability in food production.
"Townships, towns and cites will allow us to remove the pressure that currently is on agricultural land by making sure that we settle people on urban centers so that we can free land to feed the nation," he said.
He was speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the second Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) at the State House.
Ruto further stated that municipalities are vital to the counties as they ensure that pressure is not concentrated on a few towns.
He said that the improvement in governance and facilities in the municipalities, the greater the opportunity there is to remove pressure from the cities.
He said this is the reason the government discussed the county aggregation and industrial parks, aimed at creating alternative centers of value addition and agro-processing.
"It is also the reason why today we have six new special economic zones targeted at exports. Again, away from Nairobi, Mombasa into towns like Sagana, Thika Naivasha, Nakuru and Busia," he said.
The President noted that the government will continue to expand the facilities to create real alternative centers of growth working with counties.
This is as it manages the imminent urbanisation.
"Well-managed urbanisation is integral to our economic development agenda, aligning with Vision 2030 and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," he said.
Ruto noted that the government's investment in infrastructure expansion, connectivity enhancement and overall accessibility safety and security improvements are informed by the fact that urban areas are the epicenter of the Bottom-UP economic transformation agenda.
He stated that the Kenya Urban Support Programme I has enabled the establishment of foundational institutions that will drive the country's sustainable and inclusive urbanisation agenda.
"Primarily, these will be the 77 municipalities as well as two special municipalities across 45 counties. This is a substantial portion of the 300 urban areas identified in Kenya," he said.
The President added that of the urban areas, 220 require development investment to achieve urbanisation policy objectives.