Home KENYA NEWS Demolition of Parts of Oshwal Centre in Parklands Begins

Demolition of Parts of Oshwal Centre in Parklands Begins

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Demolition of Parts of Oshwal Centre in Parklands Begins

The demolition of Oshwal Centre, a Hindu religious centre in Nairobi’s Parklands estate began on Saturday afternoon a day after Governor Mike Sonko said the iconic building would not be spared.

The centre’s demolition is part of the ongoing crackdown on structures built on riparian land by Nairobi Regeneration Committee set up by President Uhuru Kenyatta late last year. The team is co-chaired by Sonko and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala 

In a statement on Saturday, Nairobi Governor’s office said Oshwal’s temple, monuments and cultural centre would not be flattened because the three sections do not sit on riparian land.

“We are ready to preserve the temple, monuments and cultural centre because they are far from the river, but the rest of the structures, like the hall, that are within the stipulated riparian distance, must be removed,” the statement reads in part.

“The President and I are interested in leaving a legacy by righting the wrongs that were committed in the past. We owe it to future generations,” Sonko said in the statement.

Speaking in Gigiri on Friday, Sonko said the county government will allocate the temple an alternative land elsewhere.

“Hii mambo ya Mungu, staki kucheza nayo, tutawapatia sehemu nyingine wajenge, (We don’t want to play around with issues of God so we will give them another place to build),” said Sonko.

“They have already been served with notice but we allow them to remove their valuables, we don’t want to be malicious. We have plenty of county land, wajenge temple yao huko, but there, it has to be removed.”

This week has seen structures worth billions of shillings reduced to rubble as the government moves to reclaim riparian land.

South End Mall, Ukay Mall, a Shell Petrol station and a Java restaurant have so far been demolished.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Good, the are paying the…
    Good, the are paying the price of corruption. People grabbed every public land available and got approval from Nairobi kanju to build whatever they want.

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