Uhuru Park Upgrading is a boon to the users
What you need to know:
- It took many by surprise to find the place fenced off, the explanation being that it is being upgraded.
- Hopefully, the park will remain largely intact but with superb improvements when it is ultimately reopened.
Uhuru Park, in the capital Nairobi, is a vital facility for use by residents and visitors for their recreation. Its recent sudden closure has, however, denied many people one of the few places in the city where they can go and relax free of charge. It took many by surprise to find the place fenced off, the explanation being that it is being upgraded.
The quick decision to revamp the facility was made by the city MCAs, and is being implemented by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
This national government agency that took over some of the key functions of the city county government during former Governor Mike Sonko’s inept and disorganised tenure has, so far, done a good job. One of its biggest achievements is de-congesting the central business district. Gone are the smoke-filled streets and in are the pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares.
City residents will forever cherish the immense freedom to leisurely stroll through the CBD. This is the trend in most of the well-planned cities of the world. Garbage collection and other services have been boosted and roads repaired.
The curiosity about what is happening to Uhuru Park since the bulldozers arrived will, hopefully, as the NMS has promised, be unveiled in February, when the job will be completed.
Uhuru Park is one of the few green lungs left in the concrete jungle that Nairobi has become in recent years. It must be protected for the use of the many residents and visitors, who have, over the years, patronised it for their relaxation.
One of the greatest developments that are going to radically change the face of the city, the Nairobi Expressway, will, sadly, eat up a few metres of the park. However, what is remaining of Uhuru Park must be jealously guarded. Hopefully, the park will remain largely intact but with superb improvements when it is ultimately reopened. Although this was an ambush of the users, the works should be completed on time.
However, courtesy demands that, before such public facilities are shut down for upgrades or repairs, the authorities should let the public know well in advance.
