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, 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 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 7th 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 truck 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 its 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 in 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 the 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 on 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 I explained 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, building 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 next Sketch Tour.
