Kisii hosted World Cities Day celebrations at the Agricultural Training Centre.
Leaders urge counties to pair housing projects with reliable waste collection, drainage and public services as Kisii pursues city status.
Counties should integrate housing projects with reliable waste management and essential services, leaders urged during World Cities Day celebrations in Kisii. The October 31 event took place at the Kisii Agricultural Training Centre.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba delivered a speech on behalf of Lands and Housing Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome. It called for waste separation at source, regular collection, recycling and safe disposal.
The speech stressed that adequate housing requires clean water, sanitation, drainage, transport and economic opportunities. However, poorly planned urban growth risks deepening housing shortages, pollution, flooding and pressure on public services.
World Cities Day puts integrated planning in focus
Wahome’s speech cited affordable housing projects in Ogembo, Suneka, Nyachenge, Nyanchwa and Nyaribari Masaba as opportunities for jobs and local growth. However, these investments also need drainage, sanitation, waste collection, transport links and green public spaces.
Modern markets similarly need reliable water, hygiene and efficient waste collection to support traders and agricultural businesses. Counties should therefore plan housing, markets and infrastructure together, rather than treating them as separate projects.
The speech also urged municipalities to strengthen their ability to plan, finance and maintain essential infrastructure. It highlighted the Kenya Urban Support Programme Phase 2 and Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project as useful examples.
Meanwhile, settlement upgrading should involve residents in identifying priorities. Climate-sensitive planning also matters because flooding, poor sanitation and environmental damage disproportionately affect underserved neighbourhoods.
Kisii highlights restoration and city ambitions
The speech praised Kisii County for converting the former Nyambera dumpsite into Etaya Governor’s Park. It also highlighted the training centre’s Material Recovery Facility as a way to recover and reuse waste.
However, Wahome urged authorities to judge waste services by actual results, not installed capacity alone. Municipalities should set measurable targets, track progress and protect rivers, wetlands, drainage corridors and green spaces.
Governor Simba Arati reaffirmed Kisii’s ambition to attain city status in a speech delivered by Deputy Governor Elijah Obebo. Obebo also said the county had finalised its first 10-year spatial plan to guide land use and infrastructure.
He cited the Kazi Mashinani initiative’s urban clean-up work and said the county planned more public spaces. Kisii and Ogembo already hold municipality status.
UN-Habitat links waste recovery to green jobs
UN-Habitat Kenya Head of Country Programme Beryl Khanyile said adequate housing also requires secure tenure, basic services and economic opportunities. She urged investment in existing neighbourhoods to improve services and strengthen climate resilience.
Khanyile said UN-Habitat was working with the State Department for Housing and Urban Development and Kisii County to strengthen waste recovery. The collaboration, involving partners such as Taka ni Mali, aims to create green jobs for young people.
She also highlighted support for small businesses and green employment through climate resilience initiatives. Khanyile said UN-Habitat would showcase Kisii’s experience at the global observance in China as an example for other Kenyan towns.
