Lands team probes Sh2.2b Nairobi’s City Park project

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU

NAIROBI; KENYA: Parliament’s Lands Committee Wednesday began investigating the procedure used to pick a private investor to rehabilitate Nairobi’s City Park in a Sh2.2 billion project.

The MPs told the Lands Principal Secretary, Ms Mariamu El Maawy, that they were unclear as to why the investor was given a 25-year lease to work on City Park, yet the standard commercial lease was up to a maximum of six years.

They also sought to know if the investor – Aga Khan Trust for Culture – wanted to build a car park in the portion of City Park that has indigenous trees. The MPs also wanted the Principal Secretary to pinpoint whether the title deed of City Park was held by the Treasury or if it was held by the County Government of Nairobi.

“The committee has no objection to this development, but there are many issues around it which are very grey. We need these to be in black and white,” said Ms Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town MP), who chaired yesterday’s meeting.

But the Principal Secretary said there was a “model and a plan” to ensure the indigenous forests were preserved. 

The MPs heard that the Aga Khan Trust for Culture had done similar projects in Cario, Kabul and Delhi.