Nairobi commuters decry traffic jams, blame it on population conference

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) greets guests who have come to attend the ICPD25 summit at the KICC on Tuesday. [Photo: Courtesy]

Nairobi motorists and commuters are furious after being locked in traffic jams for hours on Tuesday morning.

They blame their long hours on the road on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) which began today at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

Naturally, most of them took to social media to get it off their chests.

David Kioko tweeted and blamed the leaders for prioritizing such conferences at the expense of addressing the infrastructural problems bedeviling the city.

 

As for Waithera, the commuters and motorists were never informed about the planned summit that will be ending on Friday.

The conference has, however, been adequately covered by local media, especially the controversy over the expected discussion of contraception and sexual orientation rights. 

One of the most affected routes is Lang’ata Road which leads to the Nairobi CBD.

The summit was set rolling with a match from Uhuru Park Grounds, Nairobi, by a group of leaders among them Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, National Treasury and Planning Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, and Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki.

“Today, I attended the official opening of "power match" at Uhuru Park ahead of ICPD Nairobi Summit aimed at helping transform the lives of millions of women and girls by making progress towards ending all forms of gender-based violence and harmful practices,” said Yatani in a tweet.

With close to 6,000 people expected to attend, the summit has prioritized matters pertaining to sexual and reproductive health focusing mainly on women.

Some of the areas will include alleviating deaths linked to unsafe abortion and streamlining Universal Healthcare Coverage with the need to provide health services to minority groups such as women, youth and the LGBT.

Last week, religious leaders condemned the conference claiming that it has a sinister motive of fronting for the legalization of homosexuality and abortion.

However, President Uhuru Kenyatta gave an assurance that Kenya would not tolerate any dialogue outside the confines of alleviating Female Genital Mutilation and providing health services to Kenyans.

The Director-General of the National Council for Population Development Dr Josephine Mbae allayed the clergy’s fears.

He said Kenya would be just using the summit to monitor progress since joining the union on its birth in 1994, in Cairo, Egypt.