KWS finally agrees to give land for Nairobi’ southern bypass

NAIROBI: The Ministry of Transport and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) have struck a deal to hive off about 53 acres of land from the Nairobi National Park to give room for completion of the Nairobi Southern Bypass.

The Sh17 billion project funded by China Exim Bank had stalled for nearly five months after KWS rejected a proposal by Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) to extend the park’s boundary to accommodate the road.

On Friday, the three parties signed an easement deal allowing the construction of the dual carriage road through the park by a Chinese firm. Acting Chairman of KWS board of trustees Peter Kinyua said they had a lot of deliberation before reaching the “hard decision”.

He said they had pegged the area after working diligently with KeNHA and the Ministry to ensure animals are not disturbed by the project. The land, is a 4-kilometre stretch from the Ole Sereni Hotel junction on Mombasa Road to Langata Road at the Carnivore Restaurant junction.