Traders displaced as popular Rift Valley viewpoint makes way for Rironi Mau Summit highway expansion
Some of the remaining curio shops at View Point along the Nakuru–Nairobi Highway. Many of the shops have already been demolished as the dualling of the Rironi–Mau Summit road has commenced.
Small-scale traders who have been selling traditional crafts, souvenirs, ornaments, Maasai shukas, and other locally made products at the viewpoint have now been replaced by demolition debris and construction activities to make way for the ongoing expansion of the Rironi–Mau Summit Highway.
This expansion has also affected the famous Great Rift Valley Viewpoint, which attracts local and international tourists who stop there for a scenic view to admire the landscape, take photos, and purchase souvenirs from traders who established businesses.
However, bulldozers that are on site have already taken down some of the curio shops and other businesses that once welcomed visitors to pave the way for the road, which has created anxiety among traders whose businesses are still standing and waiting, with many uncertain about when they too could be required to vacate.
Curio shop traders whose structures were demolished to pave way for dualing of Rironi-Mau Summit road at ViewPoint along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway rebuild their shop on another site. They are appealing to the government to allow them to rebuild their shops and resume business once the road project is complete
Bernard Njoka, one of the traders who is also the Secretary for the Kwa Mathore Viewpoint Community-based Organization, said that the group has 50 kiosks selling different goods.
The trader, who has been at the viewpoint for the past 30 years, says each of the kiosks has employed four other people, which translates to about 200 members drawn from five neighboring towns.
He says that the business has stabilized the towns including Mathore, Nyambare, escarpment, Getithia, Rukuma and Kimende all within the viewpoint adding that they are now living in fear that the demolition of the business premises will cause the towns to collapse.
Njoka says they were served with a notice of intended demolition by the Kenya National Highway Authority (KENHA) on March 24, requiring them to demolish the structures and vacate within 30 days.
Since then, he says, they have been living with anxiety till recently when some of the business premises were demolished leaving a few still operating while others have now been caught between continuing to invest in their businesses and preparing for the possibility of their structures being cleared or employ more workers in preparations for the Christmas festivities.
Construction-Road construction workers along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway working on the dualing of Rironi-Mau Summit Road at ViewPoint
“This is the only business I have known almost all my life; it has helped me raise my six children as they have been able to go to school and also provide for my family needs. We are not opposing the project, just pleading with the government to consider relocating us to somewhere else, if there will be another viewpoint. They started demolishing a different section; we are still waiting,” Njoka says.
The traders now call on the government to come up with a deliberate plan to preserve the tourism value of the site while accommodating the new highway so that tourists can continue stopping at the viewpoint and interacting with local traders.
iew Point along Nakuru-Nairobi highway
The 175–kilometre multi–billion–shilling Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway is expected to decongest the Northern corridor and improve traffic flow.