President Uhuru Kenyatta today launched the reclaimed and restored Michuki Park after three months of intensive work.
In his speech ,President Kenyatta said the launch of the park is the first steps in the re-birth of Nairobi city, and reaffirmed that a city is not great because of its lofty and towering brick-and-mortar assets, but because its citizens are great; and its environment is great.
“Today, we are gathered here to renew our covenant with the city of Nairobi. And I say so because, if a city is not about brick-and-mortar only, it must be about its green spaces as well. But green spaces, like the one we are launching today, cannot take care of themselves” Said the President.
The President emphasized on the need for more ‘green spaces’ saying they are more important than the ‘concrete spaces ‘which are lungs which help people breath, and scientifically green environments make concrete cities, breath.
“Green spaces improve on the quality of air in the city and expunge the toxins emitted by our environment. And this is why we are targeting a 10% forest cover across the entire country by the year 2020. Within Nairobi, the Michuki Park is the first attempt at pushing this ‘green renaissance” He added.
He called on the city residents to make a covenant with the city to take care of the green spaces and their attendant species.
The president regretted that Nairobi city lost the ‘green city in the sun fame’ because we did not take care of it; “a city that was lush with flora and fauna; a city that was home to all types of fish and birds; and a city where “the sun shone, and God smiled” – to quote one of its former mayors”.
“As Government, we did not enforce the civic responsibility of the citizens to take care of the green spaces. And the citizens of Nairobi city were not organized enough to protect it. Because of this, and the rapid growth of ‘concrete spaces’ over the ‘green spaces’, there was a collapse of civic order and national duty in the city” He added.
While quoting the Bible the president said that environmental conservation is instructed by God through a covenant “It is contained in all Holy Texts including the Bible, the Quran, The Vedas, and in many Ancient Scripts, across cultures. The instruction is to take care of the earth and what it brings forth in its green spaces. And failure to do so has a punishment recorded in the Holy Bible” said the President.
He warned that according to the good book, “Those who destroy the Earth and its environment, by failing to take care of it, shall also be destroyed”.
The President said park is at the heart of the national rebirth, following an agreement arising from the 2006, Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention on the Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous waste and their disposal meeting held in Nairobi, which agreed on the needed to look at Nairobi River as a good demonstration project for the clean-up of the city, which gave birth to the Nairobi Rivers Basin Rehabilitation and Restoration Programme.
He noted that the park is now a place of serene beauty and peace; from blacken waters of Nairobi River to a swimming destination for ducks and mudfish; and from a lifeless habitat to life supporting ecosystem, leading to the re-emergence of birds, moving the park from its previous state of being known as a haven for criminals.
President Kenyatta said focus will now shift to other green spaces for revival including; the Nairobi Arboretum, Karura Forest, City park and Ngong Road Forest.
The president applauded the Ministry of Environment and Forestry CS Keriako Tobiko and its Agencies for the various restoration and reclamation activities that they undertook in the last three (3) months to transform the park.
