Why Tom Mboya’s statue was removed from the CBD

A man responsible for renovations at Moi Avenue street in Nairobi, Steve McAketch, has revealed to kenyans.co.ke that the reason the Tom Mboya statue was pulled down on Sunday is because the area is undergoing renovations.

“We removed the statue as the place is undergoing renovations temporarily but more details about the renovations will be revealed tomorrow (Monday),” McAketch told Kenyans.co.ke on Sunday.

On Sunday, unknown people pulled down the statue of Kenyan trade unionist and former cabinet minister Tom Mboya which was established near the Kenya National Archives in Moi Avenue, Nairobi.

Tom Mboya’s statue being pulled down on September 13, 2020. [Source: kenyans.co.ke]

One of the people who was seen transporting the statue told a local media that the statue was being taken to the Nairobi National Museum.

“I do not have a lot of details, only that I was instructed to take it to the National Museums of Kenya headquarters,” the transporter revealed.

The statue, which is made of bronze, was created by an artist called Oshottoe Ondula in October 2011 in honour of Tom Mboya. The moment stood about 50 metres away from the spot where Tom Mboya was gunned down by an assassin in broad daylight in 1969.

The statue was a sight to behold because of its gushing fountain. But recently, there was a huge public outcry of the sorry state of the statue. The monument had become a dumping site.

Tom Mboya Statue gone

Mashemeji Derby will never be the same pic.twitter.com/qDSpst5aJX

— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) September 13, 2020

In June 2019, Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua volunteered to renovate and maintain the Tom Mboya and Dedan Kimathi statues until those concerned “wake up from their slumber”.

Mutua received harsh criticism from the Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who assigned a team to start renovations. However, not much was accomplished.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the national government are yet to give an official statement on why Tom Mboya’s statue was pulled down.

The sorry state of the Tom Mboya statue before it was pulled down on Sunday. [Source:Dr. Lemayian Njenga Karugia J. PhD/Twitter]