Francis Atwoli Proposes Closure of Nairobi National Park To Allow Expansion of Capital City

• COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli has called for the expansion of Nairobi into protected areas, including the Nairobi National Park, citing rapid population growth
• Atwoli argued that the current infrastructure and space within the city are inadequate for its estimated 15 million residents
• Atwoli proposed that the government should relocate wildlife from Nairobi National Park to the Maasai Mara to allow for decongestion

Elijah Ntongai, an editor at TUKO.co.ke, has over four years of financial, business, and technology research and reporting experience, providing insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary general Francis Atwoli is advocating for the expansion of the Nairobi city into the Nairobi National Park and other protected areas.

Why Francis Atwoli wants Nairobi National Park closed

Atwoli said that the population of the city is growing and the park and other spaces should be used for expansion.

The COTU secretary general was reacting to a report by NTV showing that Karen residents had rejected a railway project due to the impact it would have on the area's ecosystem and ecology.

"In any developing world, people construct in forests, people do whatever they can do. You can't say, 'I'm keeping this tree here,' when development is taking place. The population of Nairobi is growing. When we were young, people in Nairobi were about 200,000 only in the city. Now Nairobi hosts almost 15 million people and it cannot continue to be the same," Atwoli said in a report by NTV.

Atwoli further stated that Kenyans should allow the government to use the Nairobi National Park land for the expansion of the city.

"Even the national park, the park, the Nairobi Park, where we have animals and so on, it must be used to develop Nairobi. We need a new Nairobi with wide roads. We need a new Nairobi with facilities. We need Nairobi with a proper industrial park. We need to have a manufacturing place because it is only Nairobi which has not been decongested in Africa. And we don't have any post-dependent city to decongest Nairobi"

Atwoli reiterated the need for the expansion of Nairobi and proposed the transfer of the wild animals from the Nairobi National Park to Maasai Mara.

"So we must expand Nairobi. We must use that national park around Nairobi. We must take those animals to Maasai Mara and make sure that Nairobi reflects an international city like other cities. So you can't say, 'because we have a national park in Nairobi, it's the only city that has a park; that park should remain there for years and years.' Look where we have Runda; Runda used to be coffee farms. Do we still have coffee farms in Runda?" Atwoli said.

Govt to prioritise salaried Kenyans for affordable houses

In other news, President William Ruto and Atwoli agreed to prioritise salaried workers in the allocation of affordable housing units.

They also agreed to reduce the required down payment from 10% to 5% to improve access and affordability.

The decision followed public backlash over the use of the Housing Levy for unrelated projects such as market construction.

Ruto assured that no new markets will be built using the levy, limiting development to the 400 already under construction.

The government also committed to ensuring social and physical infrastructure within housing estates and, where necessary, renovating nearby facilities.

Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke