The ‘stagnated growth’ of Nakuru town has been blamed on poor planning and land grabbing within the town.
Nakuru Business Owners’ Association patron Harun Mwangi now wants the county government to formulate proper planning guidelines, something he said has hampered the growth of the town.
Speaking Tuesday on the phone, Mwangi said the population of Nakuru is rapidly growing, but the town itself has failed to grow.
“In the past five years, the population of Nakuru has doubled from what it was but the structure of the town has remained the same. There is a housing shortage and the infrastructure is in bad shape,” said Mwangi.
“We don’t have proper planning policies and the land that could have been used for development has been grabbed by a few individuals,” he added.
Mwangi called on the county government to come up with adequate planning laws that can spur Nakuru growth in relation to its growing population.
“If we really want to attain the status of towns such as Mombasa, then we must move with speed to ensure that our pace of development is at par with the population growth rate,” he said.