On Monday President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister reportedly made a night-time inspection of road improvements in the CBD including street lighting and new pavements. They were accompanied by the new Nairobi Metropolitan Services boss Maj-Gen Mohammed Badi.
This excellent initiative is long overdue. Probably two million people walk to work every day in Nairobi. Yet their needs are not properly catered for.
In the last 10 years, Nairobi's road system has dramatically improved. A major ring road around the city is almost complete while inner roads have been widened and link roads created. This investment has cost hundreds of millions of dollars but is justified to ensure that Nairobi remains the business capital of East Africa.
However it is tragic that these superb highways and the general road network cater almost exclusively for motor vehicles. They largely lack pedestrian pavements and bicycle lanes. That makes it hell for ordinary Kenyans to walk to work.
It is great that NMS is now upgrading the pavements in the CBD. But if they want to make many Nairobians happy, they should create pavements for every arterial road in the city.
Quote of the day: “The most dangerous mistake of any political force is to forget its roots.”
Jerry Rawlings
The Flight Lieutenant seized power in Ghana on June 4, 1979
