Narok has little to show from tourism fortunes

By Kipchumba Kemei

It is the gateway to the world-famous Masai Mara Game Reserve and one would expect a smart town, glittering from the flow of tourist dollars.

But a depressing reality shatters a first time visitor’s expectation of Narok, as this town that is sited on a river basin, lives up to its gloomy Masai name.

Narok, in Maa language, means ‘a dark place’ this Rift Valley town may have been located where it is by mistake, by forebearers, who hoped to cash in on tourists visiting the game reserve.

"It sits at a low point of the course of Narok River, which makes it prone to floods. It should have been sited on higher ground," says National Environment Management Authority officer Edward Wawire.

Three quarters of Narok residents have no access to electricity in this fast-growing cosmopolitan town, 146 kms from Nairobi. Its packed estates plunge into darkness after sunset.

Mired in dirt

Despite the enormous resources accrued from the Mara proximity, the town is mired in dirt and garbage, lacks proper planning, has no sewer treatment plant and boasts of one public toilet at the main bus park.

Residents and immigrant farmers make huge profits from wheat sales.

Money in circulation in and around Narok is believed to be an estimated Sh200 million a month, according to the local National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Entertainment business goes up and trade in livestock also booms. But the ‘dark’ town appears to remain unchanged.

The town, with a population of over 100,000 people, suffers perennial water shortages.

The water supply system is dilapidated and can only serve about a third of the town’s population.

"Those who planned the town did not take care of how it would expand. They wanted it to serve a few people, mainly tourists to the Mara and communities that had migrated here," says Mr Isaya Ndung’u, the patron of the Chamber of Business and Commerce.

Ndung’u says due to its close proximity to the Narok River, people found it ideal to make it a cattle auction area. It eventually expanded oblivious of the dangers the location posed.

However, on a positive note, the town that was dormant since 1991 when tribal clashes erupted and stagnated investments for almost a decade, is recording renewed growth, albeit haphazardly.

But some of its development is also its bane. Some open trenches left behind years ago during the construction of the Narok-Mau Narok Road pose danger to pedestrians and also compromise public health.

The Narok Town Council has failed to regulate hawking and hawkers throng the streets all day peddling wares.

"We are handicapped in many ways. We cannot adequately cope with the needs of residents. The rates we collect are not enough for our needs," says the council Chairman Kerimpoti Sadera.

"But the council is working with all the stakeholders to make the town clean. The public and those criticising us should support our mission," says Mr Sadera.

The town has no designated dumpsites, which make it an eyesore to visitors. Tourists, who have to pass through it on the way to Maasai Mara, may not associate it with the glamour of the park.

No facilities

About 350,000 tourists visit the town annually yet Narok has no cultural villages or other attractions that could pull them.

The town is located on a steep gradient, making it vulnerable to floods.

Mr Wawire says Narok’s lack of planning is the main undoing. "All the land, including wetlands, have been grabbed to give way to unplanned high rise buildings," he adds.

"The district has resources and rich people who can work in partnership with the town council to keep the business district clean. The council should work with the physical planning department to plan the town again and give room to parking bays, markets, roads and other facilities," says Wawire.

The town is affected by high rural-urban migration, with many people coming to seek employment, health care and other social economic development activities.

The situation will worsen when the re-carpeting of the Narok-Mai Mahiu Road is completed in the next six months, says Wawire.

Culture and National Heritage Minister William ole Ntimama, who is also the Narok North MP, says land grabbing is a problem in the area.

"This is a vice which should be fought. How can land meant for the town be grabbed," he says, adding that history will harshly judge those who grabbed the land.

Mr Ntimama was once the Narok County Council Chairman.