Wonders of Sergoit Hills

By William Kiptoo Despite the existence of the Eldoret Southern Bypass, a significant number of heavy trucks and long distance vehicles still continue to pass through Eldoret town. This happens even though the bypass was designed specifically to divert transit traffic away from the urban center. The pattern is consistent and visible, especially during night hours and peak logistics periods. Several practical, economic, and infrastructural reasons explain this behavior. One of the main reasons is fuel access and service concentration within Eldoret town. The town remains the dominant hub for fuel stations that serve heavy commercial trucks. Many drivers prefer established stations along Uganda Road, Oginga Odinga Street, and the main CBD routes where they can access fuel, tyre services, spare parts, and repair garages in one stop. Along parts of the bypass, these services are limited or unevenly distributed. For truck drivers on long haul routes, convenience often outweighs the time sav...

 By William Kiptoo  As Eldoret continues to expand outward, the Southern Bypass has become more than a transport route. It is now a major urban growth corridor shaping settlement patterns in Kapseret, Cheplaskei, Simat, Maili Tisa, and the fringes of Langas. While the road has improved movement around the town and opened new land for development, it has also brought a set of challenges that extend beyond compensation disputes. These include rising insecurity, uncontrolled land subdivision, informal settlement growth, and increasing pressure on public services.  One of the most visible challenges along the bypass is insecurity linked to rapid urban expansion. As new estates emerge along the corridor, some areas have developed faster than supporting infrastructure such as street lighting, policing posts, and controlled access roads. This has created pockets where residents report theft cases, break ins, and incidents of harassment, especially in less densely populated secti...

 By William Kiptoo As Eldoret prepares for the proposed Eastern Bypass project, attention is slowly shifting back to earlier road developments that reshaped the town’s growth. The Southern Bypass, now a major transport corridor through Kapseret and Langas, offers important lessons. It shows how large infrastructure projects can transform mobility and land value, but also how they can trigger long, unresolved disputes over compensation, ownership, and fairness. Along its corridor, the promise of development was accompanied by tension, delayed payments, and contested land claims. These are the same issues that risk repeating themselves if lessons are not fully absorbed before the next phase of expansion begins. The Eldoret Town Bypass, especially the Southern alignment, cuts through one of the fastest growing urban fringes in Uasin Gishu County. The project was intended to ease congestion in Eldoret town and open up surrounding areas for development. However, as the road progressed, ...

By William Kiptoo Tucked away in Kambi Somali, Eldoret , Eldoret Steel Mills Ltd (ESM) is one of the quiet but critical players in Kenya’s steel manufacturing ecosystem. While it rarely makes headlines, the company forms part of the industrial backbone supporting construction and infrastructure development across the North Rift and beyond. Established as a locally registered Kenyan steel manufacturer, Eldoret Steel Mills focuses on the production of hot‑rolled steel products, primarily manufactured from imported billets. Operating as a mini‑mill, the company aligns with Kenya’s broader industrial strategy of value addition, transforming imported raw materials into finished construction inputs for the domestic market. A Strategic Location Eldoret’s position as a logistics hub for western Kenya, South Sudan, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania gives Eldoret Steel Mills a strategic advantage. Located along major transport corridors, the mill supplies steel products used in housing, road...

  When factories across Eldoret went silent, Ken‑Knit kept its machines running. As once‑mighty industrial names such as Raymond Woollen Mills and Rift Valley Textiles (Rivatex) collapsed or staggered under the pressure of global competition, Ken‑Knit quietly did something remarkable: it survived. More than that, it adapted. In a town shaped by both industrial promise and disappointment, Ken‑Knit became the exception, the factory that stayed standing when others fell. Founded in 1965, Ken‑Knit began operations at a time when Eldoret was emerging as a manufacturing frontier in post‑independence Kenya. Rather than pursuing scale or prestige, the company focused on a narrower but carefully chosen niche: knitwear, blankets, and yarns, particularly for domestic and regional markets. From the start, Ken‑Knit operated as a family‑owned enterprise, a decision that would later prove to be one of its greatest strengths. While Raymond symbolised elegance and global connection, and Rivatex re...

 By William Kiptoo For much of the post‑independence period, Raymond Woollen Mills stood as one of Eldoret’s proudest industrial landmarks. Established in the early 1960s, the factory symbolised Kenya’s ambition to build a self‑reliant manufacturing economy. Long before the town became synonymous with athletics, wheat farming, and universities, Raymond helped define Eldoret as an industrial hub at the heart of the North Rift. The mill was set up as Raymond Woollen Mills (Kenya) Ltd, a subsidiary of the renowned Indian textile firm Raymond. Its arrival followed Kenya’s independence in 1963, when the government actively promoted local industries to reduce dependence on imports. Eldoret was chosen deliberately: its cool climate suited wool processing, and surrounding highland areas offered ideal conditions for sheep rearing. From the start, Raymond was designed to do more than make fabric. It created a complete value chain, processing locally produced wool into finished products such ...

By William Kiptoo For much of Kenya’s post‑independence history, Raymond Woollen Mills , Rift Valley Textiles (Rivatex) and Ken‑Knit defined Eldoret’s identity as an industrial town. Together, the three factories anchored employment, shaped migration into the North Rift, and linked agriculture to manufacturing at a scale rarely matched outside Nairobi. Yet while Raymond collapsed and Rivatex struggled to survive, Ken‑Knit endured, offering a revealing contrast in how Kenya’s textile industry rose, fell, and, in one case, adapted. Raymond Woollen Mills, established in the early 1960s, symbolised the optimism of early independence. Backed by Indian capital, the factory focused on wool processing and quickly became synonymous with quality and aspiration. Raymond suits, blankets and yarns clothed civil servants, students, clergy and families across the country. The factory drew wool from Rift Valley highlands, created thousands of jobs, and helped transform Eldoret into a centre of light...

 By William Kiptoo Photo by William Kiptoo (April, 2026) The story of Dola milling in Eldoret is tied to the journey of Eldoret Grains Limited, the company behind the Dola brand. It began in 1987 in Mwingi, where the founders set out to process and add value to maize, Kenya’s staple food. As the business grew, location became critical. The company moved to Eldoret, placing itself at the center of the North Rift’s grain producing region. With steady access to maize from Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, and surrounding areas, the shift positioned the company close to both farmers and markets. By 1998, the Eldoret plant was operational. Milling started at scale, and Dola maize flour began to find its way into homes across the region. The brand grew through availability and consistency rather than heavy promotion. Over time, the product range expanded to include wheat based flours such as atta, chapati flour, mandazi flour, self raising flour, and home baking flour, alongside fortified maize ...

By William Kiptoo In 1966, in Eldoret, three brothers started a small textile business with Sh50,000 and a single knitting machine. Gulabchand Shah, Somchand Shah, and Keshavlal Shah were not working with much, but they had a clear intention: to build something that could grow. The first product was hand knitting yarn. Production was basic, and the scale was small. Like many early enterprises, progress depended on consistency rather than speed. The business grew gradually, supported by reinvestment and a careful approach to expansion. As demand increased, the company moved beyond yarn into spinning. This allowed for greater control over production and improved efficiency. From there, it expanded into blankets and knitwear, building a wider product base that responded to everyday needs. Over time, these products found their way into homes, schools, and institutions across Kenya. The company, Ken-Knit (Kenya) Ltd., did not grow through sudden breakthroughs. Its progress came through stea...