List of 9 Nairobi Estates Earmarked for Upgrade by Sakaja

Nine Estates in Nairobi County are set for an upgrade according to public notice by the County on Monday, February 20.

According to the notice, the regeneration programme and renewal of the old estates owned by the County government will improve the quality of the socio-economic life of residents.

“The Nairobi County Government hereby invites Requests for Proposals (RFP) from development partners and other investors to redevelop the following estates,” read the notice in part.

Among the estates to be affected by the program include Bahati, Maringo, Jericho, Lumumba, Bondeni, Ziwani, Embakasi, Kariobangi North, and Woodley. 

An aerial view of Eastland’s area. The decaying estates are set to be upgraded to make the 1,100 hectares a sustainable city within a city.

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NMS

Additionally, to ensure there are minimal displacements in the process, the notice informed that the developments would be undertaken in a phased approach beginning with open spaces within estates. 

The move to upgrade some of the oldest estates in Nairobi follows up the initiative by the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) that was led by General Mohamed Badi.

Initially, the NMS had aimed to provide accessible, low-cost housing with reasonable standards of sanitation.

According to the NMS, the Bahati Estate project was expected to have 12,000 units in high-density buildings to replace bungalows on 50 acres.

Another 10,000 units were to be constructed in Lumumba Estate, 8,000 units in Maringo 1,500 in Kariobangi North, and 4,000 in Embakasi.

Bondeni was to have 774 units, California 2,500 units, Woodley 6,000 units, and Ziwani Estate 4,782 units, all in eight-storey buildings.

Imperatively, this proposal by the Sakaja-led county comes in the backdrop of his administration setting aside 3,000 acres for the development of Affordable Housing Units in the capital.

During the commissioning of new houses in Mukuru on October 2022, President William Ruto disclosed that the 3,000 acres provided by the county government would be used to construct between 400,000 and 500,000 housing units that would support Nairobians.

The affordable housing project was at the heart of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term where he announced the Big 4 Agenda, which included the construction of some 500,000 affordable housing units.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) together with Transport & Infrastructure PS Charles Hinga (second left) viewing a model of houses to be constructed at Park Road Estate in Ngara under the Affordable Housing Pillar of the Big 4 Agenda in May 2019.

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