President Uhuru Kenyatta has laid out a robust plan that will drastically turn around the historic Uhuru gardens into a world class monument to the country’s struggle.
Speaking when he led the country into celebrating the 57th Jamhuri Day celebrations, the head of state said he will head back to the same ground next year April to commission a museum enshrining history lessons of where the country has come from.
“Why did our founding fathers choose Uhuru Gardens as the place to celebrate Independence Day in 1963 and the republic status in 1964? Why did they want generations to memorise about our history, the untold atrocities visited upon our people and the evil associated with colonial rule?” he asked,
“By April next year, we will come back here to commission a museum and officially open the garden. We will then invite schools to come here to learn about Kenya’s history.”
The ground which has been currently undergoing renovations, is the very spot the national flag was hoisted and national anthem played for the first time in 1964.
The President yesterday gave a sneak preview of how the 58-year-old facility will look when the renovation work is complete.
As part of the facelift, the President said the facility will bring back memories of the country’s armed struggle, but also the good, the bad and the ugly of Kenya’s history.
The museum, he said, will have up to six compartments, all evoking memories of the country’s struggle to attain self rule.
Some of the sections in the museum will include a hall of legends, tunnel of martys, rope gallery, moments of gallery, hall of innovations and moments of darkness gallery.
“At the hall of legends, it will bring alive legendary ancestors including Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Mekatilili wa Menza, Koitalel arap Samoei, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Nabongo Mumia among others,” Uhuru said.
At the tunnel of martys, names will be engraved of every Kenyan who lost their lives in the many watershed moments from second World War to the 2008 post-election violence.
Rope gallery of the museum will be dedicated to every one of the 1090 heroic souls that were hanged during the colonial era.
“And at the moments of darkness gallery, we shall display the histories of our lowest moments, the moments that we regret but are part of our history,” the President said.
The museum will also dedicate a hall of innovation where brilliant and game-changing 17 ideas produced by Kenyans will be on display.
“This hall will speak to the coming future and how our past has guided it. The hall that is just behind me, marked by a spear pointing up, characterises our latest exploits, our moments of great hope and national prideand our bold path into the future,” he said.
“This place will be a book of history and illumination of the future, weaved in hope, written in pictures, sculptures and historical artefacts. And although the place of remembrance is a place of national pain, it will also be an altar for historical forgiveness.”
Apart from being a place of remembrance and healing, the President said the facility will offer a platform where the past, the present and the future will converge.
“When Kenyans walk through the heroes boulevard, their spirits will be edified by the sacrifices our liberators made. And at the end of this boulevard, there will be the tomb of the unknown warrior,” he said.
“A warrior whose name we do not know, although he died in battle for our country. A warrior whose mother let him go, and both mother and son sacrificed so that we can be free.” BY THE STAR