To access Mombasa Island, one had to first get to the Mombasa Port. The Port was the docking point for traders and visitors and the precise location where invaders attempted to seize the city. The invasions informed the construction of Fort Jesus, close by the Port – in order to protect it.
The Fort served its purpose as a military garrison until the Baluchi soldiers (under the order of the Sultan of Oman) captured it from the Portuguese in 1698 and thus began the Omani rule in Mombasa.
Almost two centuries later, colonial powers were eager to plant their feet in African soil. In the first half of the 1890s, the East Africa area was partitioned between the British and the Germans. Mombasa Island and a great part of the area on the mainland were named British East Africa.
As a means to expand trade into the mainland all the way to Nam Lolwe (or Port Victoria as the British called it), in 1895 construction of East Africa’s first railway began. The project required a large shipment of materials and ships were scheduled to dock at the Port weekly with supplies. The only problem was that the Port wasn’t deep enough. To accommodate larger ships, a new jetty was required.
Area scouting along the Mombasa shores was done, and an ideal location was marked on the west side of the Island. The location, Kilindini, was a large inlet, and with no time to waste, in 1896 a Harbour was built.
When Mombasa roads were planned, the importance of the Kilindini Harbour was unquestioned. As such, a road was marked and built to run from the Harbour to the eastern part of the city.
By the late forties, Kilindini Road was one of Mombasa’s main streets.
Then, in February 1952, as part of the Royal tour of East Africa, Princess Elizabeth visited Mombasa on her way to Treetops Hotel in the Aberdare National Park. Her time in Mombasa, albeit short, was commemorated by the creation of two pairs of elephant tusks – made from aluminum, and welded so artistically that from a distance, they resembled actual tusks… only much larger.
The tusks were placed to form a dual archway over both sides of Kilindini Road. Residents and visitors were destined to see the unique work of art. Shortly after the Princess’s visit to Mombasa, word of King George VI’s passing was public knowledge, and it was in Kenya that the Princess became Queen.
Later that year, in October, the Mau Mau Uprising started.
Even after independence, Kilindini Road maintained its name. There was little reason for the first all-Kenyan government to change it, given its link to the Harbour. However, when Daniel arap Moi stepped into power in 1978, he made adjustments to the names of streets and even the face on Kenya’s currency.
There’s no certainty as to why President Moi chose to rename Kilindini Road, but it’s probably because of the street’s popularity and the presence of famous tusks. Presently, Moi Avenue is still one of Mombasa’s busiest roads known for the Mombasa Tusks and the Uhuru Gardens close by.
