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When Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) under the former Defence Cabinet Secretary Mr Aden Duale handed over Uhuru Park and Central Park to the County Government of Nairobi, Governor Johnson Sakaja said that they would reach out to them shortly to redo the parks if the need arises.
This seems to have come sooner than expected as the parks are now closed after baring severe damages in the recent anti-government protests that rocked the country. While the county is yet to reveal the full extent of the damage it suffered from the protests, both Uhuru Park and Central Parks are closed from the public until further notice as the county seeks to redo them.
According to Mr Ibrahim Otieno, who is the County Chief Officer for the Environment, Uhuru Park was turned into ruins by protesters, and the county is now planning to work on areas that were damaged before allowing members of the public to visit the park again.
Gates leading to Uhuru Park were damaged, some facilities including public toilets inside were vandalized, and the old Boeing 737 that was meant to be used as a restaurant and amusement facility in the park was also put on fire.
“They vandalized all the sanitary facilities within the park. They burnt one of the buses and they took all the weeds and dumped them into the ponds, they went away with animal statures within the park. The damage is quite extensive for the park,” Mr Otieno told
Nairobi News.
The department will now have to reallocate some of the budget in the department toward repairing the park since it did not anticipate such extensive damage. The first county mobile recording studio truck which was inside the park was also torched, which the governor estimated to have cost the county nearly Sh60 million. The fence was also vandalized, and some of the lights that had been installed inside the park were stolen.
All eyes are now on Governor Sakaja and his team whether he would reach out for help from KDF who undertook renovation work under the defunct function of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
Before being reopened for the public during the Christmas celebrations last year, the two parks had been closed for nearly three years. The renovation of the iconic Uhuru and Central Parks cost the county government about one billion.
When the parks were officially opened in April, the county announced that it had put in place enough measures to ensure that the facility is safe. The Central Park remains closed as KDF continues to put the final touches on its work.
Upon completion, entrance fees will be introduced to access Central Park, which is also meant to host events such as outdoor meetings, weddings, and ceremonies among other events. The facility also has a serene environment for group meetings, an outdoor library, and a skating rink among other facilities.
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