Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, we are gathered here to witness the early steps of re-making and re-birthing our great city of Nairobi. We are here to affirm that a city is not great because of its lofty and towering brick-and-motor assets. A city is great because its citizens are great; and its environment is great.
Today, we are gathered here to demonstrate to both the nay-sayers and the optimists that: “It can be done”. That “…impossible is nothing”. That we can restore the former glory of our great city of Nairobi, to what was referred to as the “green city in the sun”.
A city that was lush with flora and fauna; a city that was home to all types of fish and birds; and a city where “…the sun shone, and God smiled” – to quote one of its former mayors.
Today, we are gathered here to renew our covenant with the city of Nairobi. And I say so because, if a city is not about brick-and-motor only, it must be about its green spaces as well. But green spaces, like the one we are launching today, cannot take care of themselves.
It is the citizens of the city that must make a covenant with the city to take care of the green spaces and their attendant species.
In fact, this covenant is an express instruction from God to man. It is contained in all Holy Texts including the Bible, the Qu’aran, The Vedas, and in many Ancient Scripts, across cultures. The instruction is to take care of the earth and what it brings forth in its green spaces. And failure to do so has a punishment recorded in the Holy Bible.
According to the good book, “Those who destroy the Earth and its environment, by failing to take care of it, shall also be destroyed”.
Today, we are, therefore, gathered here to witness the first steps in the re-birth of Nairobi. But for this to happen, we must admit that we lost the ‘green city in the sun’ because we did not take care of it.
As Government, we did not enforce the civic responsibility of the citizen to take care of the green spaces. And the citizens of Nairobi city were not organized enough to protect it. Because of this, and the rapid growth of ‘concrete spaces’ over the ‘green spaces’, there was a collapse of civic order and national duty in the city.
But the completion of this park is a demonstration that it can be done. That we can reverse the environmental down-turn of our great city of Nairobi.
And this is why apart from this park, we have targeted other green spaces for revival including; the Nairobi Arboretum, Karura Forest, City park and Ngong Road Forest. And we hope to extend this re-birth of our environment or what I call the ‘green renaissance’, to all counties of the Republic.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Now that I have spelt out the doctrine behind the ‘green renaissance’ or the green re-birth of Nairobi, I will turn to our business of the day and why this park is, at the heart of our national rebirth.
Back in 2006, Kenya hosted the 8th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention on the Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous waste and their disposal.
During this meeting, the delegation of Kenya and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) agreed that, they needed to look at Nairobi River as a good demonstration project for the clean-up of the city, based on reports of pollution and a Nairobi plan that called for Kenya Government to coordinate the various UN initiatives. And from this The Nairobi Rivers Basin Rehabilitation and Restoration Programme was born.
One of the agreements of this meeting was to pilot the rehabilitation of 2.5 Kilometers of Riparian area along the Nairobi River Basin. This was to run from Museum Hill in Westlands area to Race Course Bridge in Kibera.
When the rehabilitation works started, more than 1,000 trucks of twenty-ton each, carried solid waste from the Nairobi River Basin, covering 2.5 Kilometers. This is an equivalent of 20 thousand tons of waste in total. Or put differently, for every one kilometer from Museum Hill to Kibera, 8,000 tons of solid waste along the Nairobi River Basin, was cleared.
At first, the cleared river basin and its environment were called the “Mazingira Park”. But After the passing on of Hon. John Michuki in February 2012, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources made an initiative to rename Mazingira Park into ‘Michuki Park’ in his honor.
Indeed, the Late Hon. John Michuki in his own words said ‘A nation that ignores its environment has no future’. And what he meant is that the future is not in the ‘concrete spaces’; the future is in the ‘green spaces’ bequeathed to us by Nature and God. What may appear as progress but at the expense of the Environment is “Not Sustainable Development”.
But why are ‘green spaces’ more important than the ‘concrete spaces’? Why is it important for our great City of Nairobi to be re-born as the ‘Green City in the Sun?’
There are two reasons we must reflect on. First and foremost, green spaces, like the one we are launching today are the LUNGS of the concrete cities. Lungs help us breath, and scientifically, green environments make our concrete cities, breath.
Green spaces, improve on the quality of air in the city and expunge the toxins emitted by our environment. And this is why we are targeting a 10% forest cover across the entire country by the year 2020. Within Nairobi, the Michuki Park is the first attempt at pushing this ‘green renaissance’.
And we are not alone. World-wide, cities are reclaiming their green spaces from the hectic encroachment of concrete spaces.
Mexico City, for instance, is working to rehabilitate the only natural space left in the city by reviving a natural Lake that had been killed by ‘concrete encroachment’. Singapore is also currently developing an artificial rain forest in Changi Airport, to fight the adverse effects of the expansion of ‘brick-and-motor’ assets in their cities.
In Nairobi city, we are lucky that we do not have to create artificial forests, or reclaim waters that are long gone, in order to re-new our green spaces. Unlike other countries, our levels of effort are manageable and we will re-create the ‘Lungs of the City’ with much ease.
Secondly, parks are historically, spaces of expression. Kamukunji, for instance, is the place where the national question on Kenya’s independence was posed and debated by Africans. Uhuru Park and Jamhuri Park bear similar historical significances.
Our parks have represented activism for social change; hosted historical political moments, and harbored thousands of Kenyan childhood memories of family outings. And because they are spaces of national expression, recreation, and reflection, urban green spaces are the physical representation of the soul of the city.
By creating this park today, we have started the process of re-birthing the soul of our great city of Nairobi. And we thank the Late Hon. John Michuki for challenging us to re-make Nairobi by rebuilding its soul: the parks.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This restoration initiative is part of the Nairobi Regeneration and Beautification Programme spearheaded by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
My Administration notes with appreciation, the various restoration activities that have been undertaken in the last three (3) months. The transformation is evident in the park we are launching today.
We have moved it from a safe haven for criminals to a place of serene beauty and peace; from blacken waters of Nairobi river to a swimming destination for ducks and mudfish; and from a lifeless habitat to life supporting ecosystem, leading to the re-emergence of birds. We, I am informed, have also been visited by a crocodile.
These green spaces have never before been appreciated by the public as they are now in this Covid-19 pandemic period. In fact, Kenya Forest Service continues to register a huge influx of people visiting the urban forests and green spaces, mainly for recreation and re-connecting with nature.
In that regard, and to further foster the re-birth of Nairobi and our other urban areas and integrate the ongoing Greening Kenya Campaign as our “New-Normal”, today I am pleased to announce a national campaign to mobilize citizens, business, industry, labour and civil society towards a common goal – Cleaning Up Kenya.
The Cleaning Up Kenya Campaign shall be piloted in Nairobi City County, commencing on 1st September, 2020. The Campaign shall be anchored on the National Government Administration Officers at the local level; who shall work together with the local communities and with stakeholders both within and outside of Government to enhance environmental restoration, conservation and management.
This Campaign fits within the ongoing Kazi Mtaani Programme with a budget of Ksh.10 Billion, and it shall complement the efforts being made within that Programme towards the improvement of environmental and sanitation conditions at the grassroots level.
Within the Cleaning Up Kenya Campaign, Chiefs are encouraged to proactively involve vulnerable members of their local communities and marginalized groups such as Women, Youth and Persons Living with Disabilities.
To this end, I direct the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, in consultation with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, to issue guidelines on implementation of this Campaign. There will be a continuous performance evaluation of the Campaign; with outstanding performers being rewarded and non-performers being sanctioned.
As we conclude, I wish, at this moment, to thank the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and its Agencies – Kenya Forest Service (KFS), National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI); Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology and Innovation (ICT), Ministry of Sport, Culture and Heritage, National Museums of Kenya (NMK), National Youth Service (NYS), Ministry of Agriculture, SIMLAW Seeds Company and Ministry of Energy, Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), among others, for the collaborative efforts in restoring this park.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I conclude, I encourage all Kenyans to visit these green spaces and, indeed, our forests to enjoy their serenity and beauty; and perhaps reflect and seek inspiration, solace and comfort from nature. But may be more importantly, for emotional healing and physical relaxation during these challenging times of Covid-19 pandemic.
We owe it to ourselves and future generations to conserve and protect our precious forest resources, grow trees and keep our environment clean and healthy.
With those remarks, it is my pleasure to declare the Hon. John N. Michuki Memorial Park officially open.
