The famous Kamukunji grounds in
Eastland's will soon acquire a new face and shed off that bad history
as the political waterloo and battlefield of Kenyan politics.
The grounds were the venue
for the struggle for Kenya's multi-party politics in the 1990's.The events of Saba Saba, July 7, 1990, will forever define the history of the grounds.
On this day, Kenyans defied KANU and Moi and made their way to Nairobi’s Kamukunji grounds to demand for democracy.
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| Eugene Wamalwa escaping from teargas. |
The Moi regime then responded by using the police to beat up people and an unknown number of people were killed and others brutalized.
After almost a year and a half , the infamous Section 2(A) of the constitution that made Kanu the sole legal political party was repealed.
A year after that, Kenya staged the historic multi-party elections that for the first time since 1969 propelled MPs and councilors from parties other than Kanu into Parliament and other local authorities.
According to the ministry of Nairobi metropolitan website, Kamukunji grounds is an “island” amid densely populated human settlement and business activities.
The ministry said it has undertaken to fence, erect shaded and unshaded seats, build a toilet block, introduce dustbins, greening, landscaping, road improvement, footpath and floodlights in the grounds.
Last week, Kamukunji acting DC Charles Muiruri said hat the government will rehabilitate the grounds.
“We want to rehabilitate the Kamukunji grounds to be good playing grounds. We want to do away with the bad history where the grounds have always been labeled as the political battleground. The government has put in 30 million to rehabilitate the grounds.” The DC said during a youth meeting where different youth groups from Kamukunji constituency were given cheques from the Youth Development Fund.
The ministry said that the contractor, MS MONACO ENGINEERING LIMITED has already taken over the site and will do phase one work at a cost of Ksh.29,931,351.80 (Twenty nine million, nine hundred and thirty one thousand, three hundred and fifty one and eighty cents).
These works are slated to take four months from the time of site handover which was done in May 18, 2012.
Two years ago, Saboti MPs Eugene Wamalwa planned rally at the ground was canceled by police over security reasons. Over 400 anti riot police dispersed his rally.
The rally was violently violently broken by police and Wamalwa was teargassed and his supporters dispersed.
Wamalwa stumbled to the ground as he escaped from a teargas canister that had been thrown at him in efforts to disperse his group.
Wamalwa who was accompanied by former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, activist Tony Gachoka and a host of supporters were forced to flee in the ensuing melee.
This was despite the fact that they had been informed in time that the rally had been canceled for security reasons.
A few days latter Wamalwa was allowed to hold a rally at historic grounds.
"We come to this sacred ground with a deep sense of history and purpose. We come to sound the trumpet and plant the seed of generational and transformational change," Wamalwa said then.
Borrowing from the famous name Kamukunji, Kenya has now many Kamukunjis and more often than not, you will hear of Kiberas Kamukunji, “speakers Kamukunji” and many other Kamukunjis.
Another presidential aspirant Raphael Tuju also plans to hold the first major Rally for the newly crafted HOJA alliance at the Kamukunji grounds.
“Watch this space. We are ready to work with all parties that are ready to work with us. Soon, we are planing a big rally at the Kamukunji grounds for HOJA alliance.” Tuju told reporters at his Lovington POA party office on Sunday.
