Author Keith Ang’ana

“It is not uncommon for a country to create a railway, but it is uncommon for a railway to create a
country,” were the words of Sir Charles Elliot, who was the Commissioner of British East Africa between
1900 and 1904.
These remarks came when he observed how Nairobi, and the whole region in extension, was growing
exponentially, simply because of the construction of the Ugandan railway.
In the year 1897, the railway Chief Engineer George Whitehouse was scouting for the route through
which the railway would pass. Considered to be Mile 327, or the halfway point of the Ugandan railway,
Whitehouse earmarked Nyrobe for a railway depot, and where the builders would rest before
embarking on the Kikuyu highlands.
In the year 1898, Albert Church was commissioned to design the layout for the railway depot, and
that only constituted two streets – Station Street and Victoria Street, both intended to run north from
the railway station.
In the year 1899, the railway builders finally reached Nairobi, and from then on, houses, shops and
hotels started being built. This necessitated the construction of another road, and that’s when the first
avenue was constructed.
At first, just like all the other avenues that followed it, it was named based on numerals, and so, it was
known as First Avenue. But then, with the completion of the railway, they decided to name it in honour of
the Chief Engineer, who was George Whitehouse. Therefore, it was known as Whitehouse Avenue.
This went on till independence, when the Africanization process followed. The Africanization process
basically entailed reverting all the ‘white’ things back to Africans, including land, businesses and even
street names.
Among the guidelines for street names were those of Kenyan nationalists who had fought for independence,
Pan-Africans who had supported Mzee Kenyatta in the independence struggle, and finally, African
capital cities.
Whitehouse Avenue, being the longest avenue in the Nairobi CBD, even longer than Delamere Avenue
(now Kenyatta Avenue), held much importance. And so, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta decided to name it after
his Ethiopian counterpart, Haile Selassie. Some sources claim that he named it specifically after him due
to the fact that Ethiopia has had the highest literacy rate in Africa for years.
Others say that it was because Ethiopia had never been colonised, therefore, the street would be a
representative of their long period of autonomy. And others say that it only happened because Mzee
Jomo Kenyatta and Haile Selassie were best buddies.
Foundation of the railway in Nairobi

At the heart of this avenue was the initial Railway station. Initially built as a mabati structure in the year
1899, when the railway builders arrived in Nairobi, it was later upgraded in the year 1912 to the
architecturally impressive station that it is now.
Right ahead of it is the Kenya Railways Headquarters. Right after the completion of the construction of
the railway in the year 1901, the headquarters were moved from Mombasa to Nairobi. For a while, the
offices were housed at the mabati structure, then upgraded to the stone structure in 1912.
In 1924, the officials decided to build an impressive building to manifest the power that the
railway held, since it constituted the biggest portion of the colony’s economy at the time. Sir Herbert
Baker, one of the best architects of the time, was commissioned to design it.
Just as his other designs in the city, such as the State House, Nairobi School and the Supreme Court, the
Freemason architect employed the Neo-Classical style of architecture in constructing the new Railways
Headquarters, with three pillars at the corner and one at the side. It was and still is very beautiful.
In the year 1971, the East African Railways & Harbours Corporation established the Railways Museum,
which is now operated by the Kenya Railways in conjunction with the National Museum. It exhibits
images and artefacts of the whole railway construction, with some tracks that are still connected to the
main railway line. There are also restored locomotives displayed in the yard, from the time of the
original Lunatic Express.
The August 7 th bombing
Haile Selassie Avenue was also the spot of the August 7, 1998, bombing of the American Embassy, which
saw the death of 213 people.
At around 10:30 am, two members of Al Qaeda, known as Azzam and Al-Owhali, approached the
American Embassy in their Toyota Dyna lorry. Loaded at the back of the lorry was a bomb made of 500
cylinders of TNT. The explosives were then packed into twenty specially designed wooden crates that
were carefully sealed.
When the truck approached the gates of the Embassy, the security guard known as Benson Okuku
Bwaku was commanded by those in the truck to open the gate. But then, he declined. The plan was that
Al-Ohwali would alight the truck and shoot at the guards, but then, he realised that he didn’t have his
gun with him once he had alighted, and so, he turned and ran away instead.
Benson Bwaku tried calling out for reinforcement immediately, but at that moment, the bomb in the
The truck was detonated.
The explosion was so bad that it damaged the Embassy building and brought down the adjacent Ufundi
Co-operative House, with everyone in it. The heat wave from the blast was so high that even a bus
passing by Haile Selassie Avenue burned down.

Co-operative Bank Headquarters remained standing, but it had all its windows blown out. Most of the
people sustained injuries simply because of the glass shattering, particularly those who ran to the
window.
The Co-operative Bank Headquarters was later repaired and restored to its original form. For a while,
It was nicknamed ‘Bell Bottoms’ due to how its shape resembles that of the trousers that were in
fashion back in the 90s.
On the other hand, the site of the Embassy was converted into a Memorial Park, and every year on the
7 th of August, a memorial is held on behalf of the victims.
Where the money resides
In 1970, Cobb Archer & Partners were tasked with designing the Central Bank of Kenya, and so they
came up with the Brutalist structure that is along Haile Selassie Avenue. Two decades later, there was a
need to expand offices, but instead of building more floors, they decided to build another building in
entirety.
That’s when Triad Architects were called in to design the new building. At 140 metres tall, it became the
tallest building in East Africa, consisting of an office tower with 38 floors, as well as a seven-storey multi-
storey banking complex.
This tall building alone had so many offices that it threatened the office supply balance at the CBD at the
time. It was actually considered to have a totality of all the offices in the CBD. This was a surplus to the
requirements of the Central Bank of Kenya, and so they decided to pass up on the building.
It was eventually renamed The Times Tower and allocated to the Kenya Revenue Authority in 1997.
The street starts from the roundabout at Muthurwa market and ends at Community at the junction
where NHIF and the National Library stand. Other buildings on the street include the Government
Printer, the Technical University of Kenya, Ex-Telcoms House, Coffee House, NCPB House, and even
Pastor Ng’ang’a’s Church.
On the Sketch Tour
Our Sketch Tour was on the exact day when the Mashemeji Derby was being played (21 st April), so we
even incorporated them as part of our tour. They had so many vuvuzelas, however, that they
interrupted our lesson. Mutinda, our photographer, tried recording them as they passed by, but they
threatened to steal his phone.
Despite being a medical doctor, Keith Tukei was our best sketcher around, with his sketch of the Nairobi
Railways Station being near-realistic. We even nudged him to quit medicine, now that the government
has refused to reinstate their pay, and switch careers to architecture, seeing that he and Sir Herbert
Baker are at par. He, however, responded by saying, “I’ve wasted my 20s in school studying Medicine. I
am not ready to waste away my 30s again in school.”

We tried taking a group photo outside the Co-operative Bank Headquarters, but the security guard
approached us and warned us that we may be arrested on suspicion of surveillance terrorism. He looked
us straight in the eye and asked, “Nyinyi ndio mnapiga picha hapa ndio mkuje kulipua baadaye?” and
then we had to spend the next five minutes explaining that we are just artists learning about the history
of the city. This came right after my explanation of the August 7 th bombing. Maybe I should have asked
him to tell us more.
Speaking of that, the Ex-Telcoms building next to it is also one, if not the most beautiful buildings in the
CBD, thanks to the mural/external art that was painted by Viktart Mwangi a few years back. It is quite
unfortunate, though, that they do not allow people to take photos of that building. Photos would
honestly do much in showcasing its immense beauty.
All in all, it was a great lesson on the First Avenue… sorry, Whitehouse Avenue… sorry, Haile Selassie
Avenue. The next time you pass there, make sure to remember all these details. See you on the next
Sketch Tour.