Haile Selassie Road

Prophets, prophetesses and seers were well-known and highly respected in traditional African culture. Across different Kenyan communities, there were those who foretold of the coming of the British, and with them a long, iron snake that would spit fire. 

In the 1890s the British government sought to lease fertile lands in the then East Africa Protectorate (present day Kenya and Uganda) to British settlers, particularly around the Lake Victoria basin where land was most fertile. And while the land was indeed high-yielding, it was hundreds of kilometres from the port of Mombasa.  

To gather interest and further sell the idea of investing in land, not only around the lake, but in other areas within the hinterland, the British government planned to construct a railway line – East Africa’s first railway line. 

In the final quarter of 1895, British engineer, Sir George Whitehouse, was contracted to lead the project. He sailed for Mombasa from Britain with two things: his expertise and a sketch of the route the railway line was supposed to take. On paper, the route seemed simple, presumably a few hundred kilometres. But in actuality, it would be approximately a thousand kilometres long. This meant that the construction work would be physically grueling, and the project cost would inevitably be high. Upon learning about the geography of the areas leading up to the lake, Whitehouse came to know a few facts.  

The first was that there was a vast area of land a few kilometres outside of Mombasa that was avoided by most caravans due to its desert climate and presence of lions – Tsavo. There was an area of marshland that was within the planned route – Nairobi. Then there was a volcanic region that had plenty of hills and valleys – the Great Rift Valley. More so, over 100 kilometres of the area leading up to the Lake was very soggy. 

Still, the work needed to be done. 

In 1896 construction began in Mombasa. Whitehouse worked with a team of British experts, and 37,000 Indian labourers were brought in to build the actual line. The first railway station erected was in Mombasa and as the road in front of it became busier with time, it was named Station Road. 

Almost seven decades later, a soon to be independent Kenya had Jomo Kenyatta as a strong candidate for presidency. This was the dawn of the sixties, and Jomo had built relationships with various Pan-African leaders, from Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, to Mwalimu Nyerere in Tanzania, and even Haile Selassie – the Emperor of Ethiopia. 

Of all these friendships, little is mentioned about how Kenyatta and Selassie’s came to be buddies.  

Though, in 1961, Kenyatta visited the Emperor in Ethiopia, and in 1964, Selassie flew in to Port Reitz airport in Mombasa where he was welcomed by President Jomo Kenyatta. 

It was likely strategic or a sign of respect; but what later happened was the former Station Road acquired a new name when Kenyatta was sworn in as president. It was renamed Haile Selassie Road. And the same respect was returned when one of the main streets in Addis Ababa was named Jomo Kenyatta Avenue. 

Watch Jomo Kenyatta’s visit to Ethiopia: Jomo Kenyatta visits Emperor Haile Selassie 1961 – YouTube