Excluded: Before Uhuru Park was closed for renovations, Kenyans flocked there on weekends and holidays, and vendors earned a handsome income. Now only wealthy people go there.Photo: Don Wilson Odhiambo/Getty Images
INairobi's historic Uhuru Park has been fully reopened, with a “modern, well-organized park” featuring two fine dining restaurants, an amphitheatre, event space, exercise space and creature comforts for the city's affluent population. Become.
Nairobi County's chief environmental officer, Ibrahim Otieno, said the facility could only accommodate “a very small number of contractors” due to its new design and “control purposes”.
So far, the park has been reopened for several days for year-end festivities.
Before closing for renovations, more than 100 vendors worked in Uhuru and nearby Central Park. Many of them are now lined up around a fenced park along Kenyatta Avenue or tucked into Green Park at the nearby bus terminal.
They are struggling to extract the volumes they once did, and some are now being banished from Nairobi altogether.
Mary Wandungu found a place to put her drinks cart at the trash-strewn Green Park bus terminal.
Wandungu used to earn about 1,500 Kenyan shillings ($9) a day at Uhuru Park, next to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Parliament House, Nyayo House and the National Health Insurance Fund, but since moving to Green Park, his income has dropped to about It was drastically reduced to 400 shillings. .
Eventually, she could no longer afford the house she was renting for Sh12,000 a month in Umoja, Nairobi's Eastlands district. She currently commutes 55 kilometers each way from Kenol in Murang'a County.
Wandungu can no longer keep her carts fully stocked, even for Green Park's contract customer base. Most of her stock is water.
“We don't have a lot of things that should be here. No sweets, no tropicals, no cigarettes. If we could buy it, we could sell it, but we don't have the money,” she says.
Only the fear of appearing irresponsible keeps her from continuing to work.
“I can't sit at home with my kids asking me, 'Who's your next mom?'” And you tell them they don't have a job. But I can't tell them that. ”
Wandungu pulled out a stack of documents: the 2010 registration certificate of the Uhuru Park and Central Park Vendors Association, a black notebook containing the minutes of the group's first meeting, and a list of businesses operating in the park at the time of its establishment. closure of the list of 128 vendors and a letter from the group to Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson dated September 28, 2023.
“We had a promise [we could] Please come back when you're done,” the letter said.
Mr Wandungu said the governor did not respond, but he was told that each trader would have to pay Sh14,000 upfront to be allowed to trade there again.
She says asking for an upfront payment could shorten the list of vendors who can return to the park, given the hardships they've had since leaving the park.
Philomena Wangari Kamau started selling soda at Uhuru Park in 2006 after quitting the hotel business. Her trading license and her business license archive span over 10 years of her life.
“It's the oldest one I've got,” she said, showing the 2007 document. It shows she paid a license fee of Sh2,000 and a “clearance” of Sh1,000 during a transaction by a tree near the boathouse that year. .
Wangari was so upset by the 2021 eviction that she took part in the protests. In a TV news clip uploaded to YouTube, she gives an emotional interview with her voice shaking.
Like many others, she tried to set up in Green Park, but found she couldn't make enough money to send her daughter to college or buy medication for high blood pressure and diabetes. .
She has also been unable to maintain her Sh10,000 rent in Zimmerman, Nairobi, and currently lives with her daughter in Thika, 40 kilometers from Nairobi.
If Uhuru Park reopens to vendors, she would go again in a heartbeat. She said, “When I am allowed to go back, I will go there and earn money so that her daughter can graduate from college.''
In the meantime, she spends her days advocating for Mau Mau warriors (of whom her father was one) who lost their land in the resistance movement.
Every day, Mike Njoki borrows several horses from his stable and takes them to the park for his children to ride. You must pay the stable regardless of whether you sell the vehicle or not.
He used to offer rides at Uhuru Park but was forced to move to Green Park due to eviction.
His business is not only unprofitable – his good business days, Sundays, bring in as much profit as he makes on weekdays at Uhuru Park – but it's also chaotic.
He has to closely monitor the horses to protect them from the garbage dumped there. “If they eat garbage, you have to call the vet, which is also expensive.”
However, the number of garbage dumps continues to increase.
“The waste from Uhuru Park is dumped here, including the grass cut there.”
Many customers take one look at the commotion and decide it's not suitable for children and leave.
“It's dusty, and when it rains, it gets muddy. When it's sunny, there's no shade.
“When the wind blows, the trash flies everywhere. They don't let their children play in the dirt.”
To attract them, he often has to agree to half the price, even though he offers 100 shillings for a ride that costs five times as much in better parts of Nairobi.
“All you get here is bus fare,” he says.
To make matters worse, the government built an exit from the Nairobi Expressway to the bus terminal, cutting off the space and adding to the commotion. Good business days, such as Christmas, can be overwhelmingly chaotic.
“You're in charge of animals that may react to disturbances. So, you make a living, so you have to deal with disturbances, horses, and customers and make sure there are no injuries.” “No. It's a tough time,” he says.
Njoki is frustrated that city officials have not promised when vendors can return to the park.
“I'm just hearing it's coming soon.”
This article first appeared in The Continent, a pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with the Mail and Guardian. Designed to be read;Shared on WhatsApp.Download your free copy here