Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Aden Duale, has responded to the closure of Uhuru park and signalled that construction activities are still underway in the parks. However, he mentioned that upon completion, the Kenya Defence Forces will transfer the facilities to the Nairobi county government.
This is after Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna penned a letter to him demanding an explanation over the continued closure of Uhuru National Park. In the letter dated February 17, Sifuna lifted the lid over a previous meeting he held with the CS and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja over the rehabilitation works.
Sifuna expressed concerns about why the recreation facility remains closed months after the talks with the KDF leadership held on October 13, 2023.
“At a meeting between the Nairobi Governor, myself and the KDF personnel in charge of the refurbishment of Uhuru Park held on October 13. 2023 at the Facility, it was confirmed that indeed all works had been completed and that the facility would be opened to the public in December 2023,” Sifuna recalled.
Uhuru and Central parks have been under renovation under the KDF through defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services since September 2021, to bring them up to international park standards.
The parks have not yet been opened to the public but Uhuru Park has been opened twice to host the Nairobi festival in December 2022 and 2023.