Governor Bii’s vision for a 24-hour modern city
Governor Jonathan Bii has sketched a blueprint to transform the highland hub into a modern, green and secure urban centre where business, learning and leisure flourish at any hour.
Speaking on Mashujaa Day through his deputy, Evans Kapkea, Bii described a cascade of projects aimed at improving the city’s environment, security, lighting and infrastructure—the plumbing and pulse of urban life after Eldoret’s elevation to city status last year.
Central to that vision is the Sh3 billion Eldoret City Solar Street Lighting Project, a public-private partnership designed to deliver 98 per cent lighting coverage across the city.
The system, Bii said, will be more than rows of lamps. Smart LED lights will be integrated with CCTV cameras featuring facial recognition and the network will provide free public Wi-Fi across Eldoret and its environs.
“This project will make Eldoret one of the first smart green cities in Kenya—safer, connected and vibrant 24 hours a day,” he said.
Efforts to extend electricity at the household level are already under way through the Stima Mashinani and Transformer Maximisation programmes in partnership with Rerec, which have connected over 900 households across all six subcounties.
A second phase aims to reach more homes, schools and enterprises; the county’s target is to raise electricity access from the current 65 per cent to 95 per cent by 2030.
Street lighting has been a visible part of the last three years: some 3,500 new lights have brightened estates, markets and village lanes, helping to improve public safety, extend business hours and allow women and youth traders to work confidently after dusk.
Meanwhile, the county headquarters already runs on solar power and plans are unfolding to solarise security lights and sub-county offices, a signal of its commitment to clean energy.
Agriculture, the lifeblood of the region, remains central to Bii’s agenda. To bolster coffee growers, the county is distributing one million seedlings and building a modern coffee processing plant at Cheramei.
Livestock health is being defended through a national-county collaboration that offers subsidised vaccinations against foot-and-mouth disease via an e-voucher system, a move Bii says will protect milk yields and open doors for regional and international exports.
He also pointed to upcoming value-addition projects that could reshape market access: an agro-processing plant in Ainabkoi, a chicken abattoir in Kichinjio and an animal feed mill in Mugundoi.
These facilities, he promised, will translate raw produce into products with higher value and broader market reach.
Healthcare and education feature heavily in the plan.
The county recently delivered essential medicines worth Sh21 million and is constructing a state-of-the-art County Diagnostic Centre in the heart of Eldoret City.
A Social Health Authority sensitisation and registration drive, run in partnership with the national Ministry of Health, aims to extend digitised health services to every resident.
On the education front, more than 90 classrooms are under construction countywide, while Ngenyilel Vocational Training Institute in Turbo will soon benefit from new lecture halls—milestones in the county’s push for technical education and skills development.
Roads and water are not being left behind: the acquisition of an asphalt plant is set to upgrade murram roads to bitumen standards, and more than 300 water projects are in the pipeline to expand access to clean water for both households and agriculture.
To bridge education and employment, the county has rolled out a structured Sh100 million internship programme aimed at equipping graduates with practical skills, mentorship and work experience to compete in a fast-changing job market.
As Bii laid out the plans, a consistent theme emerged: infrastructure is a tool of inclusion.
Better lighting, cleaner energy, stronger health systems, modern agro-processing and skills for youth are presented not as isolated wins but as interconnected investments meant to lift livelihoods and keep Eldoret moving, day and night.
