Why roundabouts have become a hustler's paradise : The Standard

• XN Iraki 08th May 2019 11:18:34 GMT +0300

Where else in the world do you find a roundabout that’s a bus station, a church or a gym? The Old Nation roundabout near the Nairobi Fire Station, for instance, is a bus terminus for matatus to Wangige and Lower Kabete. More strangely, it’s also where a superhighway ends.   The Globe roundabout, which is much bigger, is another bus station, complete with washrooms, or in hustle-speak, toilets. At Uthiru, a roundabout has been turned into a gym with young men and women stretching and doing aerobics in the morning. 

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Over the weekends, a number of roundabouts are turned into churches or entertainment joints, with mini-trains and bouncing castles, including the Uthiru roundabout. An operations manager or economist could quickly suggest that this is very good use of a scarce resource; land. In urban areas, space is so scarce and precious that social amenities like parks are often ignored, deliberately left out or converted into more lucrative real estate.  Those who have travelled abroad – or better yet, majuu – have seen the beautiful roundabouts and how they add ambience to cities.  We’ve tried to do that with roundabouts in the ‘cooler’ parts of our cities. In Nairobi, for instance, the roundabouts on University Way/Uhuru Highway and Kenyatta Avenue are now settled by sculptures of animals, particularly lions. By the way, I’m not sure where our sudden obsession with animals, including on our currency, has come from.  The downside

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The truth is that using roundabouts for churches or bus stations shows our failure to plan for the future. How could a superhighway end at a roundabout of all places?  It also shows our stagnation. Roundabouts are old thinking, a historical curiosity. In most countries, there’s a bold attempt to do away with roundabouts and replace them with interchanges. Nothing causes more traffic jams than roundabouts in the city. We make matters worse by turning them into markets, bus stations, gyms and churches.  Unfortunately, it’s the hustlers who find themselves in roundabouts. Yet, beyond voting, they don’t make policy decisions.  Activities in our roundabouts show its time to provide social amenities for hustlers – they’re the majority and should enjoy the finer things in life, like open spaces, parks or markets where would-be entrepreneurs can test their skills. 

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Roundabouts are a hangover from a by-gone era. Let us slowly do away with them and give hustlers the services they deserve. Now, let me take a number 118 matatu to Lower Kabete from a roundabout. 
[XN Iraki; ]    

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