Nyayo Estate: From Village to Gated Community

It’s no surprise that many neighbourhoods in Nairobi have grown in leaps and bounds over the past fifty years. In the northern area of the city, one estate invites nostalgia among some, and remains home to many.  

If you ask any Nairobi-based Kenyan today who’s above 40 to tell you tales of the Nyayo era, they will likely speak about ‘maziwa ya Nyayo’ or that this era came with the introduction of the 8-4-4 education system. Some of these Kenyans however, will tell you about the development of Nyayo Housing Estate and how it came to be the ‘it’ estate in Nairobi. 

Its bleak history 

Located in Embakasi area on 25 hectares of land, Nyayo Estate came up the nineties. Before this housing project began, Embakasi area was simply known as Embakasi Village. Though the former name gives the impression of community, it was quite the opposite.  

Contrary to the residential homes built later on, Embakasi Village came up in the fifties during the State of Emergency in Kenya. The area, which was then available land slightly far removed from the city centre, became the ideal location to serve as a Mau Mau detention camp. Shortly after the camp was set up, a prison was built and named the Embakasi Prison. And so, if you ask another group of Kenyans to share the woes of this time in history, brutal memories will resurface as detainees and prisoners faced all sorts of unmentionable punishments.  

Today, however, Embakasi is no longer a place of pain but a home to many.  

Image Credit: HikersBay

Transforming the area 

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) spearheaded the conceptualisation and eventual management of the construction of Nyayo Housing Estate. The project had middle-income Kenyans in mind throughout all phases and before the turn of the century, a cohort of Kenyans became homeowners, or simply tenants of the newest estate in town.  

Phase one of Nyayo consisted of 992 apartments, 156 maisonettes and 8 shops. From this alone, it boasted a key feature – that it was the largest estate in East Africa and would be both safe and clean. Its close proximity to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was an added value. What a way to sell real estate in the nineties! 

While Nairobi changed face with each decade that followed, so did this major housing estate. With more Kenyans working middle-income jobs came the demand for more housing. And with sufficient space in the estate’s surrounding area came the idea to expand the estate. The second phase of Nyayo contained 1,774 apartments, 288 maisonettes and 5 shops. 

Image sourced from Ministry of Health

Nyayo ya leo 

By 2014 Nyayo Estate had expanded to six phases and now has over 4,000 houses that range between maisonettes and apartments. Today Nyayo residents and those who have grown up or lived here for a significant time would argue that it is one of if not the best managed gated community in Nairobi.  

In a way, some of the order is credited to the initial master plan developed that took into consideration pedestrian walkways, open spaces for social activities and both private and communal parking. While the open spaces were not executed strongly, there is still ample space for children to play. 

Over to you 

But you probably know best. Did you grow up or live in this esto? Do you know it like the back of your hand? Tell us your Nyayo Estate tales. 

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