President William Ruto now says his administration is planning to elevate Bungoma to city status, making it the fifth in Kenya.

President Ruto, who spoke on Friday in Bungoma where he launched development projects ahead of Madaraka Day celebrations on Saturday, said he intends to raise the profile of the Western town to reach the level of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi.

“For the town in Bungoma, I am planning to come up with a comprehensive plan for a city and set it up to a level similar to that of Nairobi City,” he stated.

"The city will be located near the airport where we will set up a big town. We want to build a city here so we can elevate Bungoma County to another new level."

The Head of State further vowed to finally resolve Bungoma town’s perennial electricity problem, noting that the government has so far already injected Ksh.2 billion towards that goal.

"I also want to promise you that I will ensure you access electricity, I have been informed there are many places that have been hit by darkness, and you know the devil loves darkness," Ruto said.

"So we have allocated Ksh2 billion in this financial year for Bungoma County to ensure over 20,000 households access electricity."

Kenya currently has four cities, namely Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru which was elevated to the status by the former President Uhuru Kenyatta administration in December 2021.