Nyeri: a stagnant, rusty and under-developed town

I know there is a beatification event in that town today. But something more drastic need to be done to make the town grow. For those not in the know, Nyeri is a small, old-looking and rusty town. It is a one-street town that has remained the same since 80s. For many years, the town has been sustained by two things: being a provincial HQs and serving as the headquarters of Kenya power, mount kenya region. The main reason why Nyeri will not grow is hoarding of land by elite and those who own it and to a lesser extent, crime.

Most of the buildings in Nyeri and the undeveloped plots are owned by a few people. Among them is Ndegwa family and and an othaya cartel led by Kibaki. For those who have been to Nyeri town, that island of old buildings housing kasturi supermarket and family bank belong to ndegwa and also the building housing the consolidated bank among others. The stretch of buildings opposite KCB( from county bar to raybelles) belong to an othaya cartel led by Kibaki. These people have made it very hard for any new person or company to invest or start business in nyeri town. I know people will say there is a new Naivas supermarket. But that building belongs to Kibaki, his son Jimmy and another Nyeri tycoon called Maungu. Actually it is built on a grabbed land that was originally meant for expansion of the bus stage. The council had even gone to court to stop the construction. I am told these people also own a big chunk of naivas supermarket.

Nakumatt wanted to constuct a building for a supermarket but the rich people of Nyeri obstructed this. This was even before nakumatt opened stores in Nanyuki and Meru. Starting a small business even for small people is difficult. The goodwill for tiny shops goes for about 500K. Those able to pay this money see their small businesses collapse after a very short time under the weight of debts and inability to break even. What seems to survive in Nyeri are bars, pubs and butcheries. Nyeri has the highest concentration of bars, if not the highest number of bars and pubs, in Kenya. The stinky ones like benka do much better because they are patronised by old civil servants, teachers and business men.

It is expensive to live in Nyeri despite its small status. A one-bedroomed, poorly finished house goes for about 15K, but even this is hard to find. The shortage of housing in Nyeri is acute, mainly because nobody is willing to sell their plots or land around the town (you know kikuyus and plots). I think the county govermnet should make it very expensive to hoard plots and land in town without any construction in it. … to be continued…

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http://www.thirstytrekkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Nyeri.jpg

http://mobile.nation.co.ke/image/view/-/2009896/medRes/588084/-/13cj6hfz/-/Nyeri_pic.jpg?format=xhtml

http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/1786/acc994c086f44f728155c606e830d6d3.jpg

The last picture is the main street in Nyeri town, it is called Gakere road. It is also the town centre. That short stretch has more than twenty bars.

Wewe uzia ploti yako Nakumatt,funda wewe

Mungiki pia inasumbua sana huko…you cant even lie down without someone asking you for their cut.

This is sad. Hata Thika imeshinda Nyeri. And what about Karatina, does it have the potential to surpass Nyeri?

Last weekend nilikuwa nyeri and did not see it as a one way Street town kama Rongai. Tried getting off a mat na karibu kila mtu anipige. Kushuka ni stage. On bar issue in town only got to see two bars. Though their wifi network was a letdown. The only turn off was on Sunday when i came across hawkers literally selling on a tarmac Road ni kama magari hayakimbii Sunday

Nope sioni

kutaimprove tu with time

You must have been to either Eland, White Rhino or Ibis. Those are the main joints in Nyeri town, excluding Ibis. They are mostly empty because they sell beer expensively, especially white rhino. There are other small but trendy bars but are only patronised on friday and saturday.

Ndume point on…hata Nanyuki grew n passed Nyeri by far …the locals also contribute alot since they cannot support any business frm a person nt frm there

:(:(:(:frowning:
Sasa kila town ikikataa kusupport traders from other places will there be any development in this country? I think that problem iko sana Central more than any other part of Kenya.

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Nowornder Microsoft selected it for its internet pilot project http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Microsoft-starts-low-cost-Internet-plans-in-Nanyuki/-/539550/2724682/-/10eq1fvz/-/index.html

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Niliona shop inafunguliwa from saa moja to saa tatu halafu inafunguwa. Jioni pia two hours pekee. Everywhere I have been to mafuta hufungliwa hadi usiku saa nne ama depending na security ya area

My pal once went to buy some stuff n his kyuk ascent is different since hes from Kiambu …u know wen he talked the trader hiked the price for commodities…so wen he raised the issue in the office the locals said its always like tht

From my interactions with Nyeri people, it even harder to start a business in Karatina if you come from outside Mathira. Mathira people are very nepotic. When Gachagua, who is from mathira, became governor, all the casual municipal workers in nyeri town were replaced by people from mathira.

There is even an improvement. Until 2012, shops, including supermarkets used to close by 7:00 because of crime. Even now, it is hard to find an open shop in town past 8

That’s really unconducive for growth. While other towns are growing, Nyeri will stagnate. The young people must be running away or following I’m the footsteps of the wazees.

That’s really unconducive for growth. While other towns are growing, Nyeri will stagnate. The young people must be running away to greener pastures or following in the footsteps of the wazees.

:mad::mad: That is so annoying.

This is really sad considering the agricultural and tourism potential of Nyeri and other towns in Mt Kenya. It must be a very boring town for someone that has come from another county.