Protect new Uhuru Gardens for posterity
By Editorial.Team, July 27, 2022The move by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration to create an ultra-modern museum and recreation park at Uhuru Gardens will go down in history as one of his most important cultural legacy projects.
Since independence, successive governments have not been adept at building or rehabilitating institutions that preserve our cultural heritage or celebrate the history of Kenya, rich as it is.
Until now, there was no place where Kenyans could walk in and enjoy various aspects of their nation’s history and cultural diversity and that is why the rehabilitation of Uhuru Gardens and the installation of 13 different museums is a far-reaching decision that will have a great impact on future generations. What it means, and this is why it is critical, is that Kenyans can have a resource they can go to and verify facts about their country, its rich history and its beauty in all its diversity, from prehistoric times to the present.
Indeed, it is telling that the facility is the only one of its kind in Africa, which means that Nairobi can become an attraction point for tourists seeking to know about any aspect of Kenyan public life. It is also encouraging that the museum targets to attract at least two million tourists a year, both local and foreign, and enrich the lives of young children through the various show pieces, including the innovation gallery, which should inspire future generations to dream big about the possibilities open to them.
Equally important is its capacity to create recreation avenues for Kenyans whose menu of entertainment and recreation offerings has been severely restricted over the years. Here is a game change that will have far-reaching implications on the lifestyle of city residents and other Kenyans who travel from all corners to enjoy the offerings on the 65-acre property.
The big challenge ahead, however, and which the team tasked with birthing the project ought to think critically about, is the sustainability of the grand undertaking. The museum will only be beneficial to Kenya if it finds a formula that ensures it becomes self-sustaining so that it does not have to rely on the benevolence of the national Treasury for its operations. Given its enormity, and the colossal amounts that will be needed to keep it alive, it will be necessary to find long-term support from private enterprises through such instruments as the proposed endowment fund. This a project that speaks to the heart and minds of Kenyans. It is an undertaking that citizens must demand the next government inherits and completes for the good of Kenyans.