The recent remarks by Mr Francis Atwoli, the Secretary General of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions, proposing the relocation of wildlife from Nairobi National Park to the Maasai Mara to pave the way for the expansion of Nairobi City, are deeply troubling.
Such a proposition is not only misguided but also reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of sustainable urban development and the critical relationship between cities and nature.
It is precisely this kind of one-dimensional thinking that has contributed to the degradation of the built and natural environments in Kenya.
Article 42 of the Constitution, the National Land Policy 2009, the Physical and Land Use Planning Act 2019, the Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011, and the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act 1999 all mandate the protection of sensitive ecosystems and require that land use changes undergo rigorous environmental and public review processes.
Such a move would violate these legal provisions and also contradict Kenya’s global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, which call for cities that integrate, rather than destroy, nature.
Planning is not simply about creating room for expansion, it is about integrating economic, social, and environmental objectives to create resilient, livable, and inclusive cities.
The Nairobi National Park is an ecological asset that offers immense benefits to the city and Kenya, including carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, biodiversity conservation, microclimate regulation, and tourism revenue.
The park is not just an underutilised landmass, but an iconic heritage site and one of the few protected areas globally located within a capital city—a rare advantage we should be safeguarding.
Indeed, Nairobi faces significant developmental challenges, including housing shortages, infrastructure deficits, traffic congestion, pollution, and service disparities.
However, these are not problems of land scarcity, they are symptoms of poor urban governance, ineffective implementation of development plans, and political inertia. Displacing wildlife and consuming protected land will not resolve the crisis.
On the contrary, it will exacerbate existing problems and create new ones by compromising ecosystem services and further distorting land use patterns.
The real question we must ask is: Has Nairobi exceeded its sustainable threshold? For decades, the city has expanded without adequate planning controls, leading to sprawl, informal settlements, and a disproportionate concentration of national functions.
I hold a bold but necessary position: it is time for Kenya to consider relocating its administrative capital from Nairobi. We must begin to explore the decentralisation of capital functions, political, industrial, educational, and commercial, to ease the unsustainable pressure on Nairobi.
When all our national institutions are headquartered in one city, any disruption, natural disaster, civic unrest, or infrastructure failure, can paralyse the entire country. This is not a new or radical idea. Tanzania successfully relocated its capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma in 1974, and Nigeria moved from Lagos to Abuja in 1991.
Let us not resort to simplistic solutions that endanger our natural heritage. I urge all stakeholders across all sectors and regions to resist any urban vision that treats nature as expendable.
Firm may we stand to defend.
Even South Africa demonstrates how multiple cities can share national functions, with Pretoria handling administration, Cape Town serving as the legislative seat, and Bloemfontein hosting the judiciary.
A strategic and symbolic candidate for Kenya’s future administrative capital is Isiolo, situated near the country's geographic heart.
Its central position, connection to the Lapsset corridor, and largely undeveloped landscape offer a rare tabula rasa on which we can create a model, future-facing city grounded in sustainability, equity, and design excellence.
Relocating administrative functions to Isiolo would not only ease the pressure on Nairobi but also catalyse long-overdue investment in the historically marginalised northern frontier, unlocking new economic, social, and infrastructural opportunities for the region.
The writer is the President, Architectural Association of Kenya
