@ppcheti
At the gate is a smiling blind man selling Smokies and boiled eggs. Inside is a beautician who does a booming business of manicures and pedicures and a woman strolling along selling Maasai beads.
And there are photographer taking pictures of young men and women before flower beds, but no pictures school children's puppy love. They don't want to encourage bad behaviour.
Not long ago, Muliro Gardens was shunned and known for bad behaviour. In fact it was nicknamed Kakamega on Bench because of illicit sex and drugs.
Secret cameras captured distasteful scenes of sex and drug abuse.
Dodgy guys took payment 'lodging' for the benches and no doubt planned various nefarious activities.
Not anymore.
Today, Muliro Gardens has been cleaned up, spruced up and well-fenced and managed. Askaris are nearby.
Flower beds have been planted, as well as flowering trees. cabro paths wind through the park.
It's a perfect place to find a quiet bench and read, or watch the world go buy, whether you're a visitor or a resident.
The gardens are blooming and attracting visitors, strollers and small-scale traders watched by hawk-eyed county askaris.
Gazetted as a national museum in 2002, its well-manicured lawns and neat, shady environment is a place for resting and meeting friends.
The negative image of years back is history.
Muliro Gardens is just off the Kakamega-Kisumu highway.
The major beneficiaries are hundreds of traders and hawkers who make a decent living selling trinkets, jewellery, beadwork, carvings, kitenge clothing and paintings
With cabro walkways, the gardens are ideal for small traders.
Flower beds are carefully tended, making a perfect background for visitors who want their pictures by myriad photographers who make a good living.
“It’s a beautiful place naturally and also for business. As a photographer, I don’t struggle to find the picture-perfect location for my clients here," David Luvisi said.
"I am definitely making a better living than I would have seated in a studio somewhere."
He earns at least Sh2,000 on a good day.
To ensure the photographers don’t engage in any illicit activities with their cameras or take inappropriate pictures, they have formed and registered a group.
“We had to convince the management that our plans were simply to make an honest living and so we had to form a Saco," Luvisisaid.
Every new photographer has to register with the group before they can do anything. It keep all members in check,” he said.
Photographer Duncan Nyongesa has spent several years at the gardens. He says the have banned taking photos of schoolgirls and and schoolboys with their boy and girlfriends, respectively.
“This is a legit business and that must reflect in every decision we make and so we don’t take photos of school kids in that light,” Nyongesa said.
Lenai ole Sani from Narok says he has found the perfect place to sell his beadwork at Mulio Gardens.
“I sell beaded ladies shoes, bangles and other small ornaments made from Maasai beads. I can stroll through the garden and sell my wares.
Dennis Kirwa, a hearing and verbally impaired trader, hawks boiled eggs and Smokies just outside the garden gates.
“It’s because of the gardens that I make many sales because most of my customers are mostly relaxing or walking around. within or those going through the gardens," Kirwa said.
'Business is good as am able to sell several packets of Smokies daily, something I couldn't do before," he said.
Moses Kisia, a beautician, makes a killing in Muliro Gardens doing relaxing manicures and pedicures in the shade.
Kisia says sales are better than when he waited in a salon for clients.
He says he has to work fast because of high demand. His implements are sterilised.
“Most of my clients are women who come here to relax either alone or in the company of their spouses or friends. Many come back because they loved my initial work," Kisia said.
"This garden has changed my fortunes."
Hawker Susan Khanere, a mother of two,sells snacks and refreshments to hordes of visitors daily.
Khanere who also owns a retail shop in her home village in Khayega says she makes more through hawking than through selling at her shop.
“The first time I tried, it was too much to bear especially after the 2011 scandal. Nobody wanted to be seen going near Muliro Gardens, she said.
"But after the renovation and numerous campaigns to re-market it as a garden for families, my business has never been better. I wouldn’t quit for anything else,”she says.
Linda Abisai hawks mostly fruits just outside the gate and says she makes a comfortable living as customers increase because the gardens are beautiful and well-tended, not dark and tangled, scary at night.
"We are also grateful for the askaris who are always around to ensure nobody brings disrespect," Abisai said.
Business people are urging the county government to instal street lights inside the gardens so they can work late at night with more visitors.
“Everything about Muliro Gardens is perfect except for the absence of lights and the darkness that engulfs it at night."
(Edited by V. Graham)
