Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii has proposed renaming the county to Eldoret County, arguing that the name change would make it more recognizable internationally.

Speaking at the Kenya Software AI Summit on Monday, November 10, Bii said artificial intelligence could help market the county better but noted that the name 'Uasin Gishu' was often misunderstood abroad.

"I want to make a request from this AI Summit. How can it market our county? Can you apply AI to market Uasin Gishu? Because I was in China a couple of weeks ago, and they don't know the difference between Uasin Gishu and Eldoret. So they say Eldoret County, they don't even know how to pronounce Uasin Gishu," he said.

Bii suggested that adopting the city’s name would simplify global identification, and align it with other major urban counties in Kenya.

"I think we need to go like the rest. Every other city goes with the name of the county. Like Nairobi, Nairobi County; Mombasa, Mombasa County; Kisumu, Kisumu County; Nakuru, Nakuru County. Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County doesn't add up," he added.

Eldoret was granted city status by President William Ruto on Thursday, August 15, 2024, during an event at the Eldoret Sports Club.

Speaking during the event, Ruto noted that the board of Eldoret Municipality, the County Executive Committee, and the County Assembly of Uasin Gishu placed their desire for Eldoret to be a city and it was approved.

He also said the Senate approved the conferment of the City status to Eldoret.

"In exercise of the powers conferred on the Head of State and Government under section 7 of the Urban Areas and Cities Act, and all other enabling provisions of law, I Kipchirchir William Samoei Ruto President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander in Chief of Kenya’s Defence Forces do herby ordain declare and direct that the Municipality of Eldoret has been conferred with City Status," he said.

Elsewhere, this comes a week after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya have announced that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will oversee the initial phase of the construction of a new 4,000-bed Multi-Specialty Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret. 

In a statement on Monday, November 3, the Ministry of Health announced that the two leaders co-chaired a high-level meeting that focused on coordinating efforts between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defence to accelerate the project’s implementation.

"The discussions focused on the construction of the 4,000-bed Multi-Specialty Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Kiplombe, Uasin Gishu County.

"The initial phases, spearheaded by the Ministry of Defence, are already underway, with the first 2,000-bed facility targeted for completion by April 2027," the statement read.

The Ministry noted that the new hospital, which will occupy a 200-acre site, is part of the government’s ongoing investment in affordable and specialised healthcare.

"Set on a 200-acre parcel of land, the fully funded government project will feature 60 ICU beds upon completion, a transformative investment in specialised and affordable healthcare, and a major milestone in Kenya’s journey toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC)," the statement added.