The most popular recreational parks in Nairobi, Uhuru and Central Parks, have a new look.
The two parks have been undergoing renovations under the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) since September 2021 in an effort to bring them up to international park standards.
According to the NMS, the renovated green spaces will play an important role in environmental pollution management, the nation’s social-economic development, and citizens’ physical well-being.
The rehabilitation work, which took place 52 years after the green spaces were first opened to the public, included the construction of a playground, an outdoor gym, jogging tracks, botanical trails, an outdoor library, and a skating park.
There will also be an outdoor Amphitheatre with an audiovisual screen, an events garden in the shape of Nyatiti, and a children’s play area with bouncing castles and merry-go-rounds.
The iconic Nyao statue and Mau Mau freedom fighters monuments have been updated as well. The man-made lake has been transformed into a major waterfront, complete with a Swahili restaurant.
A refurbished aircraft body, which is also one of the new attractions, recently went viral on social media.
Kenya’s first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, gazetted and opened Uhuru Park to the public on May 23, 1969, as a symbol of the country’s freedom. It also houses the Mau-Mau freedom fighters’ monument, which honours victims of colonial-era torture.
