Perpetua Mponjiwa has filed a motion at the assembly seeking to compel the Johnson Sakaja administration to ensure the envisaged library is stocked with reading materials for all ages.
The park should also have space for games and other indoor amenities accessible without charge.
“…..this is Assembly urges the County Executive to establish a public resource centre (mini-library) at the newly refurbished Uhuru Park to act as an open source library stocked with reading materials for all age categories, a free area for board games and other appropriate indoor amenities that shall be accessible by all members of the public free-of-charge,” the motion reads in part.
Uhuru Park and Central Park across the road were closed to the public in February 2021 by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services to allow for rehabilitation to give the social amenities a facelift.
When he opened the historic public square in September last year, Governor Sakaja announced its access would be free of charge and that the rehabilitation campaign would be stretched to cover other public grounds in the city.
“Some unscrupulous people have grabbed some of these social amenity areas, we are reclaiming them, improving them and will create new ones to ensure that every sub-county has at least a recreational facility,” he said at the time.
As part of the renovation package, the park currently has an outdoor gym, playground and jogging tracks among other facilities.
The city administration staged a social fest in December at the park, with various artistic groups give space to display their arts during the last December festivities.
Should the motion succeed and the public libraries be set up in the facility, it would make it a rich social site, allowing its visitors to develop intellectual strength.
A section of city resident think the proposal by the MCA is timely because the library component will ensure that the park users with diverse interest will be take care of.
George Mwangi, who says he has been a frequent user of the park for rest since early 2000s, says adding a library component will make the facility a worthy resource and make time passed in it turn into an investment.
“The thought by the MCA is a progressive idea, which the governor should not let go. Creating art and entertainment at the park is good, but its not the only thing. A library is much better and it will make it a safe space even for school-going kids with no studying environment in their homes, like in slums,” Mwangi who works as a hawker in the city told the Star.
Melisaa Otieno says creating the facilities at the park will sustain a reading culture among city residents, hence complement the push against illiteracy.
“A reading society is progressive and thinks better. The law makers has got it right,” she said.
