Ongata Rongai

Ongata Rongai
Ongata Rongai Location of Ongata Rongai
Coordinates: 1°24′S 36°46′E / 1.4°S 36.77°E / -1.4; 36.77Coordinates: 1°24′S 36°46′E / 1.4°S 36.77°E / -1.4; 36.77
Country	Kenya
County	Kajiado County
Population (2009)	40,178
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Ongata Rongai, also locally known as Rongai or simply Rongaa, is a settlement in Kenya's Kajiado County located between the Kaputiei plains and the Western slopes of the Ngong hills.^[1] It is a fast developing residential urban aggregation in the outskirts of Nairobi with a population of 35,000 in the 1999 National Census but currently estimated between 66,042^[2] and 147,000.^[3] The city is situated 17 km south of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya and lies at 1731 m (5682 ft) a.s.l.

Origins

Rongai began in the late 1940s in two locations. First as a cattle market in present day Ongata Rongai shopping centre (first stage) and as a stone mining township in present day Kware (quarry) and Gataka areas. The two centres then spread linearly towards each other. Since the early 1990s rapid development allowed them to join together into a high density urban aggregation making up what is now Ongata Rongai proper, covering around 16 square kilometres. However, greater Ongata Rongai is a medium-to-low density area and includes Kandisi, Rimpa, Nkoroi, Merisho, Olekasasi, Tuala and Maasai lodge areas, and covers a much larger area.The first school was started on 1949 which was named Ongata Ronkai Primary School which is located along Gataka Road.

Economy

Rongai is a multi-class area which is however dominated by the middle-class. Although largely located within Nairobi metropolitan, it does not fall within the administrative boundaries of the city and is separated from Nairobi city proper by the Mbagathi river. It is itself divided into two administrative locations, Nkaimurunya and Rongai, which are separated by the Magadi road. Within Ongata Rongai there is the Kandisi river, a tributary of the Mbagathi river. It has two major industrial ventures: Kitengela glass, an artefacts manufacturer tucked away in the far-flung Tuala township area, and Tam feeds, an agro-processing industry located in Gataka.

Infrastructure and local governance

Rongai is noticeable for its serious lack of infrastructure, lighting and social amenities compared to the population it holds. As a matter of fact, it is one of the few fast growing urban centres in the world without a municipal authority. Hence, its development faces serious planning challenges. Although an overall physical plan has been done{ and continues to be updated by the Ministry of Lands, it is quite difficult to implement it because of the lack of a viable local government.^{[citation needed]} Various attempts have been made to improve the situation, but they have largely failed. The first serious attempt at settling Rongai's infrastructural deficit was in the early nineties when the Chinese government advised that Rongai would grow to be one of the major metropolitan districts of Nairobi and even offered funds for infrastructural development. These funds were probably embezzled. The olkejuado county council has on two occasions advertised tenders for construction of roads,markets and bus parks but these have never materialised.Previously the victory construction company was assigned by the government to put up drainage along Magadi Road but they never completed the job and actually created a mess by leaving the open trenches uncemented. All these just goes to show how much Rongai is a victim of poor governance and corruption and unless the Kenyan urban leadership and thinking is changed things look very dim for Rongai. Mounds of garbage have become quite common and unplanned informal businesses are mushrooming at an alarming rate. Traffic jams in Rongai are quite sickening and are caused by lack of a road network such that only one bitumen standard road serves the entire population of Rongai. Furthermore, existing roads are too narrow to allow free flow of traffic and are also unpaved. There is also a lack of enforcement of urban by-laws. Donkeys, for example, should not be allowed since they cause unnecessary traffic snarl-ups,they eat away vegetation by the roadside and litter the place with feces which is a health hazard since it is through donkey feces that tetanus spreads. Furthermore donkeys are not allowed in other urban centres in Kenya why should Rongai be an exception?

Education

This area is home to a number of reputable institutions such as the Africa Nazarene University, Laiser-Hill school,Nkaimurunya Secondary School, Adventist University of Africa, and Maxwell Adventist Academy, which is on the property of the headquarters of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church for the East-Central African Division.

See also

• Githurai
• Kahawa
• Kasarani
• Dandora

References