By Eldoret Leo 
After witnessing the near completion of the Masinde Muliro Market in Kitale and seeing other major public projects taking shape across the country, one question keeps returning: where is Eldoret’s development dividend?
Eldoret was conferred city status in August 2024, a milestone that was expected to usher in a new era of investment, infrastructure and economic transformation. However, nearly two years later, it remains difficult to identify a single completed, city-defining national project delivered since that occasion.
Instead, Eldoret has become a city of launches, inspections, revised deadlines and repeated assurances. Kipchoge Keino Stadium remains under construction after years of delays. The 64 Stadium is unfinished, despite several completion promises. The 64 Ultra-Modern Market is still taking shape, while the Eldoret Export Processing Zone remains under development. Other public facilities and proposed government offices have similarly failed to provide the visible transformation residents expected.
The projects that appear to have attracted the greatest urgency are the affordable housing developments. These projects are important and could address the city’s housing shortage. However, they are substantially financed through the mandatory Affordable Housing Levy collected from employees, employers and other income earners. They should not be presented as a special favour to Eldoret or as sufficient compensation for the absence of broader public investment.
This raises an uncomfortable political question: could Eldoret be suffering from the curse of proximity to power?
Strongholds are sometimes taken for granted because their political support is considered guaranteed. Competitive regions, by contrast, may receive greater attention as leaders seek to win or retain support. Eldoret has occupied a central position in national politics, but that proximity has not yet translated into completed stadiums, modern markets, industrial infrastructure, improved public transport or other projects worthy of Kenya’s newest city.
City status should be reflected in more than a charter, ceremonial celebrations and a change of name. It should be visible in functional infrastructure, job creation, urban planning and improved services.
The question is no longer whether projects have been announced. It is whether they will be completed and when Eldoret residents will experience the development dividend they were promised.