Kamukunji Grounds remains one of the most notable public spaces in Kenya’s political history.
The historical ground, located in Nairobi’s Shauri Moyo neighbourhood, was used by the heroes of the second liberation struggle to champion free speech and good governance.
The site is particularly remembered for the 1990 Saba Saba rallies that gave birth to multi-party democracy.
Initial protests led by former Ford-Asili leader Kenneth Matiba and subsequent ones spearheaded by the country’s first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and fellow founder members of the original Forum for Restoration of Democracy, including Martin Shikuku, George Nthenge, Philip Gachoka and Ahmed Salim Bahmariz were held at Kamukunji Grounds.
Rich Saba Saba history
The Saba Saba rally of July 7, 1990, was the first serious protest organised in the country by the opposition to challenge repression by the administration of former President Daniel Arap Moi.
The rally was preceded by intense political activities by the opposition that started in May of 1990.
During the period, Matiba and Charles Rubia announced that they would hold a multiparty rally at Kamukunji Grounds on Saturday, July 7, 1990.
The more the government attempted to block the rally, the more the politicians and their supporters seemed to get excited about the event.
Determined to stop the rally, the State arrested and detained Matiba and Rubia on July 4, 1990, three days before the event.
But this didn’t deter the agitated opposition leaders from going on with the rally and on July 7 thousands of Kenyans marched to the Kamukunji Grounds for the rally.
Attempts by the police to block the rally sparked violent confrontations between the security officers and the people. The riots spread to most slum areas in the city and to parts of Thika, Nakuru, Kiambu and Nyeri.
It’s reported that dozens of people were killed and scores injured in the fracas.
The defiance from the opposition leaders eventually forced President Moi to announce the repeal of Section 2A of the Constitution at a December 1991 delegates’ conference of the ruling party KANU. This returned Kenya to a multiparty state after more than 20 years.
Popular spot for present-day politicians
Three decades later Kamukunji Grounds remain a popular public space for the new crop of opposition leaders to push their agenda.
On April 24, 2016, Raila Odinga, the then-leader of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), held a mega rally on the ground to push the Jubilee administration to compensate victims of the 2007 Kenyan post-election violence.
The son of Oginga Odinga and other Cord principals also used the meeting to call for the overhaul of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) before the August 2017 general elections over alleged rigging in the 2013 polls.
And more recently, Kamunji grounds on Monday, January 23, 2023, played host to the Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition rally where Raila rejected the results of the August 2022 presidential election.
The long-serving opposition leader alleged that he was rigged out in the poll in a scheme involving President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the outgoing chairperson of IEBC Wafula Chebukati.
At the meeting, Raila, who was flanked by Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua and her Wiper counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka demanded the resignation of the Kenya Kwanza administration and audit of IEBC’s electoral systems.
“We as Azimio reject the 2022 election results totally. We can not and will not recognise the Kenya Kwanza regime and we consider the Kenya Kwanza government illegitimate,” Raila said.
The ODM party leader said he has evidence to believe that he won by more than two million votes.
Recreational site
The grounds also serve as a recreational site for local residents with local youths using the public space for city football tournaments.
The ground is also home to many residents who work night shifts and street families.
City residents who work as watchmen in the City Centre and the nearby Muthurwa and Gikomba markets spend most of their time on the grounds when they are not at work.
“I am a watchman and I can’t afford to rent a house. I sleep here during the day before going back to work at night,” one Stanley Kiilu told The Standard during a past interview.
Rehabilitation of Kamukunji Grounds
There have been calls from various quarters for the government to rehabilitate Kamukunji Grounds and declare the site a national monument.
In 2016, Kamukunji MP Abdi Yusuf Hassan proposed that the Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi be declared a protected national monument.
The legislator said the historical ground was one of the most important public spaces in Kenya’s political history but was neglected and in a derelict state.
“The Kamukunji Grounds hosted the Saba Saba rally that brought an end to the one-party rule ushering in a new era of multiparty democracy,” the MP said in a notice of motion tabled in the National Assembly.
In 2013, the defunct Nairobi City Council and the then Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan embarked on a Ksh30 million rehabilitation plan that saw the park fenced and trees planted.
The leadership erected some seats on the site that later turned into beds for street families.
Fees
According to the 2013 Finance Act, persons seeking to book the Kamukunji Grounds for political rallies are required to pay Ksh50,000 per day. Persons organising religious crusades are required to pay Ksh30,000 per day and lunchtime preachers will part with Ksh1,500 to minister at the grounds.
