Key roads in Nairobi to be closed for a week during UN meeting

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed (left) and her Tourism counterpart Najib Balala hand over a symbolic key to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Mukhisa Kituyi in Nairobi. [Photo: Jackson Njamba/Standard]

Authorities have warned city residents to brace for week-long traffic disruptions beginning on Sunday as Nairobi hosts a UN meeting.

At least four roads in the central business district will be closed to users other than delegates attending the 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

The meeting will be held from Sunday to Friday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.

Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome said security has been tightened ahead of the event. Mr Koome said Parliament Road, City Hall Way, Taifa Road and Harambee Avenue will be closed for the period.

“The roads will only be used by delegates who have stickers. Other motorists will be directed by officers on the ground and we urge for co-operation,” he said.

Mr Koome said they expect up to 7,000 delegates for the event and this may affect traffic flow on other roads.

Security has been beefed up at the hotels and guest houses that the delegates will be staying at. Some of the delegates started arriving yesterday.

The event will bring together Heads of State and Government, ministers and other prominent players from the business world, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development issues.

The theme of the meeting is “From decision to action: moving toward an inclusive and equitable global economic environment for trade and development”.

UNCTAD Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi has received a symbolic key to the KICC arena from Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala and his Foreign Affairs counterpart Amina Mohammed.

The quadrennial conference will also be a unique opportunity to consider the most appropriate means of delivering on the post-2015 development agenda. It will also decide on Unctad’s programme of work.

The week-long conference will feature ministerial debates, high-level round tables, thematic events, a World Investment Forum and a Civil Society Forum, among other events.

The meeting marks another milestone for Nairobi, which has hosted a series of similar forums in the past month alone.