It was both historic and unprecedented as one of the oldest estates in Nairobi was being brought down in rubbles following an order to demolish the estate.
Makongeni remains one of the iconic residential areas in Nairobi, having been there for decades, drawing its establishment to way back in 1940s to 1950s.
It was the estate which housed “who is who” on Kenya’s post colonial eras. Likewise, the estate celebrates itself as having been the residential abodes of Kenya Railways employees — those whose charisma and pride was being felt by the then hoi poloi, and the middle class.
Yesterday at night, the estate went down under the weight of Nairobi County bulldozers. Any attempts by the residents of the area to present their case to the policemen securing the demolition, so that the demolition would be halted, were futile. The demolition is said to have been ordered by the national government through the ministry of Housing.
The once celebrated estate is now going to be demolished, and the land will be used to build the Affordable Houses, one of President William Ruto’s flagship programmes.
The project is now running in almost every country in Kenya, essentially making Kenya look like a construction site.
Jane Nthenya, a resident of Makongeni, aka “Okongo”, as its residents would call it, narrated how the estate has been her only home since her childhood days. Nthenya is now now staring at the possibility of going back to her rural home in Emali.
It’s kind of a history being written as the demolition of many other estates in other parts of the country are also being brought down to creat spaces for the constitution of new affordable houses.
Whether the president’s pet project is actually affordable or not remains a matter of wait and see. Other places have their houses completed, and they have so far registered mixed reactions on the issues to do with payment of deposits before one is finally given the key to his or her affordable unit.
