Have you ever been to Ol Kalou? This is the heartland of Nyandarua, a county that has for long been considered to be a sleeping giant! And like its mother county, Ol Kalou has nothing to write home about, leave for its hugely untapped potential, and a hardcore citizenry that remains largely averse to development.
Take the town’s closest rival, Nyahururu. The two is currently experiencing a renewed infrastructural investment vigour – both private and public. On the opposite extreme, Ol Kalou has not had any key developments over the past donkey years! In this town, it seems development must be forced down people’s throats!
When you walk into Ol Kalou town, what greets you at its Central Business District, is a poorly designed and arranged market. The market is characterized by extensions of makeshift vibandas that have eaten into the road tearing through the town centre. Around one corner of the market, heaps of stinking litter, illicit brew vendors and prostitution dens dominate.
On either sides of the town’s main streets are buildings that were used by half-baked Hindu businessmen in the 1960s. You will be taking a risk operating a business in them as they might collapse any time!
The town has no towering buildings that can serve as offices or entrepreneurial centres. Ironically, its expansion has been dominated by residential plots. There are many residential houses than there are business rooms!
In fact, a spot check by Newsday Kenya reveals that the key corporate investors in the town such as KCB, Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank and Family Bank have taken four of the five storey buildings in the CBD. There is no space left!
Although there haven’t been suggestions to have the controversial market moved, there are no doubts among the few proponents of change in the area that proposals to move the disturbing market in order to pave way for the construction of business premises that dominate other developing towns will be met by the full wrath of residents who are known to be opposed to development.
This is the same wrath that business cartels in the area will unleash should there be a proposal to transform the old buildings – some of which have no electricity connection – at the town’s CBD into proper, modern storey houses, creating larger spaces for growth and investment.
Currently, the town is expecting to have its roads within the CBD upgraded to bitumen. However, the contractor has reportedly been facing opposition from kiosk owners who apparently are hell-bent on jostling for road space. Alarmingly, previous county authorities in the town have failed to make any ground breaking declarations that will steer the town towards refined, fast development. As Newsday Kenya, learned, this has been due to their fear of political retaliation during elections.
However, for the town to grow and tap its full potential, the market, poorly situated at the centre of the tiny CBD must be moved, and shoddy buildings at the centre of the town demolished and rebuild afresh.
