Nakuru County government is working with other agencies to address security concerns to ensure peace and tranquility was restored in the city
City Manager Gitau Thabanja announced that the county had set aside funds to enhance city lighting through solar-powered installations, following night mapping to identify dark spots, as part of efforts to transform Nakuru into a safer city.
The City Manager’s remarks come amidst growing concerns from residents that the level of insecurity in the city was very high with business owners being forced to close their premises early.
Residents say that criminals roam in the town and its environs freely with little efforts to contain the escalating situation.
Employees returning home from work walk to the matatu termini in fear as the criminals pausing as street families attack pedestrians without a care.
Women and the elderly are easy targets of the marauding men who sometimes grab their shopping and disappear into nearby dark alleys leaving their victims frozen in fear.
The city is also grappling with an increased number of street families including some from neighboring countries and the city management is intensifying efforts to address the rising number of street families.
City Manager Girau Thabanja acknowledged the security concerns and the influx of street families was painting a negative image of the city.
He said that enhancing urban security and infrastructure was a priority for the Kihika administration and was actively engaged in a multi-agency approach aimed at delivering lasting social and economic solutions.
The initiative, he noted, focuses on sustainable, human-centred interventions that include returning the younger children to school, enrolling others into Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and linking adults to job opportunities and development projects to support stable livelihoods and permanent exit from street life.
The City Manager said county data shows that while there is an influx of street families from other counties as well, many of the children are street day scholars who return home in the evenings, while others have families that they can be reunited with.
On the status of the urban roads, Thabanja said that pothole repairs will soon start, adding that vandalized steel manhole covers have been replaced with concrete ones and new parking signage will be installed to curb illegal parking activities.
A 2025 survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) ranks Nakuru County fourth in crime prevalence nationally, following Nairobi, Kiambu and Meru.
Recent reports indicate a surge in violent robberies and an increase in the number of criminal gangs roaming the city and residential estates.
Residents say that unless measures are put in place to reverse the trend, criminals could soon over run the streets of Nakuru and send people out of the once vibrant city.
By Jane Ngugi
