World Bank to support urban planning at Sh32 billion

The World Bank will fund urban planning through the Kenya Urban Support programme at Sh32 billion. 

It will give the funds to the national government as a loan which the state will, in turn, give to eligible counties and municipalities as conditional grants.

The grants will enable different towns to get major facelifts in infrastructural development, economic setup and the general modernisation. 

ACAL Consultants is carrying out the assessment of counties and municipalities for the urban institutional grant. So far, the firm has covered 16 counties and 20 municipalities.

Among the counties that have been assessed include Kirinyaga, Nakuru, Murang'a, Machakos, Narok, Kilifi, Embu, Kisumu, Baringo, Makueni, Nyeri, Bomet, Kwale, Tharaka Nithi, Vihiga and Elgeyo Marakwet.

ACAL national director Joseph Maitho on Thursday said KUSP's aim is to support the establishment and strengthening of urban institutions and systems to deliver improved infrastructure and services within 45 counties. 

Mombasa and Nairobi will benefit from the KUSP capacity support that is targeting the national government, Maitho said.

"The two require significantly more financial support than KUSP can provide in order to have a visible impact." 

He added, "We are on the second phase of the assessment to establish the eligible counties and municipalities that have met the minimum conditions for the grants." 

Counties that comply with the minimum conditions will qualify for an allocation of  Sh50 million over three years.

"Among the minimum requirements are the establishment of institutional and governance structures such as municipalities, putting in place a representative municipal board and municipal manager, timely and accurate preparation of municipal budget votes, financial reporting and urban investment planning," Maitho said. 

The six-year programme will be rolled out after counties meet the 11 minimum conditions and 10 performance standards being assessed.

The firm director also said the conditions and standards span across the preparation of urban area planning instruments, setting up institutions, accurate and regular budgeting and reporting, quality of infrastructure and service delivery. 

"The assessment is scheduled to end mid next month which, as provided by the programme design, will be followed by a month-long compliance window where the counties will submit any outstanding documentary evidence that was marked as such during the assessment process," Maitho said. 

Once the window is closed, the Performance Assessor will update and finalise the performance report and submit to the KUSP National Programme Coordination Team.

Edited by R.Wamochie