Checkout Why Nobody Stays in The Multimillion House in Runda that is Owned By the Govt (PHOTOS)
Runda was developed in 1972 by the project due to demand when the United Nations Environment Programme Headquarters was built in Gigiri in the early 1970s. The first phase of the estate (Old Runda) was completed between 1972 and 1980. The entry of the United Nations office to Kenya redefined land usage in some parts of the country, with one of then largest coffee farms adjacent to the capital of Nairobi transitioning to one of the most posh and affluent estates.Prior to Kenya’s independence, an expansive coffee farm sat between the present day Kiambu Road and Limuru Road.
The coffee farm was under the ownership of some Britons and was named the Cheleta Farm.After independence, Cheleta Farm was renamed Runda Farm and its management taken over by three coffee cooperatives.It was the late Dr. Njoroge Muingai, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Joseph Odwero Jowi, then Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations, who lobbied for the global body to establish its offices in Nairobi.
Maurice Strong, a Canadian, was at that time the UN Under Secretary General and had no problem with having the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) establishing its headquarters in Sub Saharan Africa.The UNEP offices, which were located at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, were moved to their present location in Gigiri in 1975. Three years later in 1978, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements was also relocated to Gigiri.
Once a bushy landscape, it was divided among 72 families in the 1970s each family owning two plots but given that the majority of them came from poor backgrounds, they decided to sell their land, which today forms most of the Runda estate.
Property in the dingy ghetto is worth Ksh 72 billion, with a half an acre plot retailing at about Ksh 60 million, and a quarter an acre at Ksh 45 million.
House number 131, in Nairobi, stands eerie conspicuous nestled in a pristine and arboreal city neighbourhood despite its palatial and stately stature. The house remains occupied only by a farm-hand and a number of police officers who keep guard of the premises.According to recent figures released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kenya is one of the unequal countries in Africa with the gap between the poor and rich widening by the day — and part of this is blamed on the access to public resources by a few.And back to the house, whose tragic story remains unravelled even as the fight against graft and abuse of public office has been intensified, especially in the last one year. To date, the house has remained unoccupied with only a farmhand and administration police officers keeping guard at the premises.
That this bungalow, which cost the taxpayer a whopping Sh310 million to house the Chief Justice, has been unoccupied for many years has remained a mystery.
Why has the palatial house been unoccupied?
The bungalow located in a high-end area, with a swimming pool to boot, has seemingly not draw interest from the president of the Judiciary.
CJ’s official residence remains unoccupied apparently because of it was bought under controversial circumstances. Former Judiciary Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei and seven other people were charged for failure to comply with procurement laws when buying the house. The delay by officials to occupy the house is partly because there were questions regarding its purchase.It has been alleged that the house wasn’t“improperly” paid for as it was bought from former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama for Sh310.
Sources
https://nation.africa/kenya/news/why-no-one-lives-in-sh310m-runda-house-meant-for-cj-470070
