Uhuru Gardens Museum will open its doors in April 2022, Uhuru Kenyatta says

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the much anticipated Uhuru Gardens Museum will open its doors to the public in April next year.

Uhuru Gardens, which is situated along Nairobi’s Lang'ata Road, is the site where Kenya’s founding fathers chose to celebrate Independence Day in 1963 and the republic status in 1964.

The land on which the Gardens sit was allocated to the Kenya Defense Forces.  With the construction of the  museum the President said Kenyans can appreciate the pain felt and sacrifices made, by national heroes and heroines and the fallen soldiers buried in unmarked graves in prisons and camps all over the country.

“By creating this garden as a place of remembrance, our founding fathers wanted generations to recall the darkness of our colonial past, but not to be stuck in the pessimism that dark memories can breed,” the President said.

The museum, once completed, will not only rekindle memories of Kenya’s armed struggle, but also the good, the bad and the ugly of our history, the President said.

Legendary ancestors

The Hall of Legends, will bring alive Kenya’s legendary ancestors including Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Mekatilili wa Menza, Koitalel arap Samoei, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Nabongo Mumia among others. At the Tunnel of Martyrs, Kenyans will have a solemn memorial to each and every Kenyan who lost their lives in the many watershed moments.

These will range from the First to Second World War all the way to the victims of the post-election violence of 2008.

In the Rope Gallery of this museum, a named rope will be dedicated to every one of the one thousand and ninety (1090) heroic souls that were hanged during the colonial era.

At the Moments of Darkness Gallery, we shall display the histories of our lowest moments, the moments that we regret but are part of our history. He said not all galleries will display sad news.

Great hope

The Hall of Innovation will celebrate the brilliant ideas produced by Kenyans. This hall will speak to the future and how our past has guided it. The hall is marked by a spear pointing up, characterising Kenya’s latest exploits, moments of great hope and national pride, and the bold path into the future.

“This place will be a book of history and illumination of the future, weaved in hope, written in pictures, sculptures and historical artifacts,” the President said.

He added that although the place of remembrance is a place of national pain, it will also be an altar for historical forgiveness.

“As Kenyans walk through the galleries of heroes and legends, they must forgive those who trespassed against us. However, they must also heed the call from our Founding Father when he said: “We will Forgive them; but we will never forget” We must forgive our transgressors; but we must never forget their name.