KENYA-OBAMA/NAIROBI FACELIFT Facelift for Kenyan capital, Nairobi as city prepares for Obama visit

Record ID: 146863

  • Title: KENYA-OBAMA/NAIROBI FACELIFT Facelift for Kenyan capital, Nairobi as city prepares for Obama visit
  • Date: 17th July 2015
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JULY 15, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) EVANS ONDIEKI, ENVIRONMENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER, NAIROBI COUNTY SAYING: "Obama will come and go, he will not undo what we have done. The cameras will remain, the beautification will remain. So you can see there is value addition in that process." STREET SCENES WORKER PAINTING ROADSIDE
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAR7QJ4W6FPOXE674HVL82DEUI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As Kenya prepares itself for a visit by U.S. president Barack Obama in the coming week, its capital Nairobi is getting a facelift. Streets are being repainted and grass and flowers are being planted on sidewalks.
    Evans Ondieki, a member of the city's county government says they are using the opportunity to do much needed repairs and maintenance across the city.
    "Obama is a big name. It is a global brand, so we want to maximise from this branding, global brand Obama, and I think it's a good thing for Nairobi, it's a good thing for Kenyans," said Ondieki.
    Nairobi boasts some impressive figures. More than half of Kenya's economic output comes from here, east Africa's main hub. Fifty per cent of its population should own a car by 2030.
    There are some unimpressive ones too. One billion dollars a year are wasted on lost productivity and fuel consumption in a city that's a traffic gridlock victim. A survey carried out in 2011 showed over a third of drivers here spending three hours at a time stuck in jams.
    The new fervour to get the city ready for the U.S. president caught some Nairobi residents by surprise and has received mixed reactions.
    "The city is missing the point because this is somebody who has been here before, his entire paternal family is here, so he knows how Nairobi looks like," Joseph Shitandi, a Nairobi resident.
    "We are doing the beautification; we are painting everywhere, so I think even for the Nairobians the environment will be conducive," added Joseph Mulila, another Nairobi Resident
    "I work in town, but it will create a lot of traffic, and maybe I don't know what will happen, we will not be allowed to get into town. So it will also affect me in that way," said Nairobi resident, Peter Oyaya.
    The visit by the U.S. president, whose father was Kenyan has generated massive interest in the country and on social media. He last visited Kenya in 2006 when he was still a senator.
    This is his fourth trip to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency.
    Obama is scheduled to give a speech on July 25 at a two-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
    To the critics, Nairobi's city heads say there are long term benefits to this visit that far outweigh any inconvenience or spending - just over 50 million Kenya shillings (about 500,000 U.S. dollars) for the beautification projects.
    "Obama will come and go, he will not undo what we have done. The cameras will remain, the beautification will remain. So you can see there is value addition in that process," added Ondieki.
    More than 6000 people are expected to take part in the summit, spending money in the city and raising the profile of east Africa's business hub. Authorities say hosting this high profile event is a big win for a country that has struggled to repair its image in the face of insecurity.
    Previous hosts include the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Morocco and Turkey.
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