Governor Jonathan Bii proposes renaming Uasin Gishu County to Eldoret County. Says the name change would improve international recognition.
Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii has proposed renaming the county to Eldoret County, saying the new name would boost global recognition and make it easier to market the region internationally.
Speaking during the Kenya Software AI Summit on Monday, November 10, Bii said artificial intelligence could be used to promote the county, but noted that the name “Uasin Gishu” was often misunderstood abroad.
“I was in China a couple of weeks ago, and they don’t know the difference between Uasin Gishu and Eldoret. They say Eldoret County they don’t even know how to pronounce Uasin Gishu,” he said.
Bii argued that adopting the name Eldoret County would align the region with other major cities in Kenya.
“I think we need to go like the rest. Every other city goes with the name of the county—Nairobi, Nairobi County; Mombasa, Mombasa County; Kisumu, Kisumu County; Nakuru, Nakuru County. Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County doesn’t add up,” he added.
Eldoret was officially granted city status by President William Ruto on August 15, 2024, at a ceremony held at the Eldoret Sports Club.
President Ruto confirmed that the conferment followed approvals by the Eldoret Municipality Board, the County Executive Committee, and the County Assembly of Uasin Gishu, with the final endorsement from the Senate.
“In exercise of the powers conferred under section 7 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, do hereby declare that the Municipality of Eldoret has been conferred with City Status,” he said.
