There’s a lot to love about Nakuru City in Kenya. I first heard about it as a kid—every time relatives or family friends came to visit, they always talked about a stopover in Nakuru, and for a long time, that’s the same time I experienced it. My old man said when they were young, Nakuru was the cleanest town in Kenya, almost like a tiny piece of Europe in Africa. It was what the lakeside city of Kisumu is known for today.
But things change. Nakuru morphed from the cleanest town to party central, a.k.a. Naks Vegas, and now into nothingness. Forgive me for being callous, but the current Nakuru city has no character. It’s just a stopover city, and cruising down A104, you’d rarely be compelled to turn left or right.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate Nakuru City. The point I am making is that this Rift Valley city seems to have fallen off, and perhaps the residents need to do something to bring back its golden shine. Nakuru City needs to go back to being a tourist destination.
I lived in Nakuru for a year just for speculation, and I loved it. However, walking down the streets, you can see its old glory that has faded through the years. There’s a street leading to the Lake Nakuru National Park that’s lined with Flamingo street lights. I am told that’s infrastructure from the 90s. We are in 2024, and what remains is a shell of its previous self. I’d honestly have loved to live in Nakuru in the 90s and early 2000s.
I recently stumbled upon a post on Facebook by a guy called Tee Saigon. He’s posted a picture of the dreaded Nakuru Railways Flyover. That picture is in black and white but looks like a Utopia. The flyover sits lower than it actually is today, with a welcome sign reading, Nakuru Welcomes you.”
Nothing is welcoming about that flyover today. If you are driving from Nairobi through Nakuru, the flyover stands as a sign to brace yourself for a traffic nightmare in a few meters. It’s worse when it rains because the underpass turns into a water hole.
“ Growing up in Nakuru was the best thing that I experienced. I lived adjacent to the NAC club, which by then was a “mzungu” club. No African members then.” A commenter on the post, describing himself as a senior citizen, narrated his experience living in the blossoming city.
“For the benefit of our younger members, Nakuru was an English town, and there were so many mzungus everywhere. It was straight from the English midlands, so, so clean. That was Nakuru then.” he added.
Another commenter was quick to say, “So the bridge remained as it was, and they dug the tarmac to accommodate tall lorries. Now that hole they created collects water like crazy when it rains.”
I loved my stay in Nakuru, but I felt it was progressing much slower than it should. Could the city status have ruined this once close-knit, vibrant town? If that picture was taken in the 60s, has Nakuru taken steps ahead or backward? You tell me.