Traxtion
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 10, 2021
- 6,201
- 12,567
Let me focus on this section coz the rest don't make any sense to me.
You mentioned universities. Talking of universities, Thika has three and close to ten colleges.
It has several hospitals of course
Industries - It is the third most industrialized town in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa
Of course it has several hotels as well
On population, I can bet on my three cents that it's way populated than Mbeya given its closeness to Nairobi and the fact that it's located in kiambu, the second most populous county in Kenya.
GDP. Thika is the biggest town in Kiambu county, which has the third biggest GDP in Kenya after Nairobi and Nakuru. Given that it is Kiambu's biggest and most vibrant town, its GDP is definitely way bigger than Mbeya's.
Despite all that, it's still not a city in Kenya. So my question is, if these are some of the things that make a place a city, why is Thika not a city yet inashinda Mbeya in almost all those points you mentioned?
Nimefuatilia Thika, I would say it's more developed than Mbeya in infrastructure especially when considering the Thika highway. But Thika is small, and more concentrated in one area, population yake ni around 300K, half of Mbeya's population. When it comes to size of the city, Thika is way smaller than Mbeya
Hata huku Tanzania kuna miji kama Moshi na Iringa ambayo imeendelea vizuri tu na sio cities.
So why is Mbeya a city and Thika is not?
Because in Tanzania the city status is mostly administrative. Despite Thika being industrialized and having better infrastructure, still it's not a economical hub of the region, it's not bigger and more populated than Mbeya, it doesn't have a lot of government offices than Mbeya, it's near Nairobi which means it's just like the part of Nairobi metropolitan area, haina administrative power kubwa kama Mbeya
Also Kenyan city status requires political approval and strict legal criteria than Tanzania. I would say Thika is just like Moshi town in Tanzania. A developed place but still it's not a city because it didn't reach its country's city status qualification.