Agriculture-rich Nyandarua County now has three municipalities after the upgrading of two townships.
The new municipalities are former Engineer township in Kinangop and Mairo Inya Trading Centre in Ndaragwa which will be an addition to Ol-Kalou which is home to the county headquarters.
Governor Amos Kiarie Badilisha termed the upgrade as a critical achievement of his administration.
He said the new development fulfilled part of his change manifesto’s strategy of creating sustainable urban centres across the county.
Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of municipality board members for the three municipalities, the governor said the upgrade was an avenue of bringing more resources to the county and devolving them further to the grassroots.
Ol-Kalao has been a municipality but its board was not fully constituted because it had five members instead of seven.
The other two municipalities have already received charters which will be officially launched at a later date.
He urged the board members to be drivers of sustainable urban development and prioritise projects and interventions that are more impactful to the people.
Kiarie who was accompanied by Deputy Governor, Mathara Mwangi, County Executive Committee Members and Members of Nyandarua County Assembly led by Minority Leader, Mwangi Gichuki said the municipalities will be receiving funds from organisations such as the World Bank.
“The upgraded units will each get support to the tune of Sh100 million from WB through Kenya Urban Support Programme,” he said.
Mairo Inya’s municipality boundary will extend to Leshau Pondo and Kiriita in Ndaragwa Sub-County and Gatimu ward in Ol-Joro-rook Sub-County.
“This is a great milestone, Nyandarua County Government will now work towards upgrading other areas into townships and trading centres for better service delivery,” said the governor.
Kiarie said his administration was going into targeted service delivery where people could access modern services in their areas.
He added that the two upgraded units will be the yardstick on how to run and manage municipalities.