Welcome to Nakuru, which officially became a city four years ago but still clings to its small-town ways like a grandmother clutching her favourite leso.

The year is 2025, and while the paperwork confirms Nakuru's city status, the vibe? Well, let's just say we're more 'big town' than 'big city'.

Take a leisurely stroll through the town centre and you'll quickly notice something different about our skyline. Where other cities pride themselves on having steel and glass buildings piercing the sky, Nakuru's 'skyline' is mostly trees, which is not a bad thing if you ask an environmentalist.

But what is irritating is how they are adorned with advertisements for everything from herbal clinics, colleges, new businesses in town and so on.

A man prepares to attach an advertisement to a tree along Kenyatta Avenue.

Photo credit: Purity Kinuthia/Mtaa Wangu

It's as if our trees went to a party and never took off their promotional stickers.

It doesn't stop there. The CBD is full of boda bodas weaving through traffic like they're in a MotoGP race, while the tuk-tuks make noises loud enough to summon rain clouds, and don't get me started on the pedestrian crossings - they exist, but their main function seems to be decorative rather than practical.

A visible reminder that Nakuru is still adjusting to city life is its advertising situation.

A source in the county's Department of Urban Development and Physical Planning notes that companies wishing to advertise must pay a fee before they are allowed to advertise.

Advertisements on trees along Kenyatta Avenue. Trees in various streets in Nakuru are used to display advertisements for businesses operating in Nakuru, denying Nakuru the aesthetic look of a city.

Photo credit: Purity Kinuthia/Mtaa Wangu

They are then given two options: either to run their advertisements on the county's digital screens in the town centre, or to mount them on existing infrastructure, of which Nakuru appears to be in short supply.

For example, the countless posters on trees along Kenyatta Avenue and Oginga Odinga Street? Are they even authorised?

According to the county official, most of these advertisers have paid their fees to the county government, but instead of using the county's designated spaces, they opt for third party service providers who put up advertisements on trees.

A man prepares to attach an advertisement to a tree along Kenyatta Avenue.

Photo credit: Purity Kinuthia/Mtaa Wangu

In other words, Nakuru's trees have unwillingly become prime advertising real estate.

The good news is that this chaotic approach to advertising may soon be a thing of the past. The county confirms that plans are underway to phase out this form of advertising and introduce a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing model befitting Nakuru's status as a city.

The county is in talks with road authorities such as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to identify strategic locations for advertising infrastructure and areas where it will not be an obstruction.

With private investors being sought for modern advertising infrastructure, the days of billboards hanging from trees may finally be numbered.

Perhaps Nakuru is just pacing itself. We are still warming up to the whole 'city' thing. Maybe one day we will swap the chaotic jumble of advertisements for sleek, well-placed billboards.

One day our trees will finally be free.

But until then, Nakuru remains the charming in-between: a town that has been upgraded but still wears its old uniform.

Welcome to Nakuru City, where trees have unwillingly become prime advertising real estate

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Purity Kinuthia