Sifuna Demands Uhuru Park Reopening, Questions Delay

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has demanded the reopening of Uhuru Park questioning the delay months after the renovations were concluded.

Senator Sifuna wrote to Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale questioning the underlying issues that have led to the delay in reopening the park for public access.

The Senator said he has received numerous complaints from the public over the closure.

Uhuru Park and Central Park were closed to the public in February 2022 by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to rehabilitate with Nairobi County government committing to open the facility in December last year.

“Close to four months later the facility remain inaccessible occasioning great inconvenience to the residents of Nairobi and to the thousands of visitors the city receives on a daily basis,” Sifuna stated.

The Nairobi Senator also sought answers on whether the public facility was handed over to Nairobi County Government following the renovation that were being undertaken by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) in conjunction with the military.

As of October, last year, works at Uhuru Park were said to have been completed.

“If not, what underlying issues continue to delay the return of the park to public use and when can Nairobians expect to resume the use of the park?” Sifuna posed.

The closure of the iconic parks for renovation did not sit well with a section of Kenyans who claimed that it was a land-grabbing scheme.

Uhuru Park was briefly opened in December 2023 to enable Kenyans who hadn’t traveled upcountry for the festivities to access the entertainment park.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja had said the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) was finalizing a few renovations anticipating the park will be opened by April 2024.