Heritage

The early history of present-day Muthaiga

muthaiga

Playing golf at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi. It is one of the facilities established by settlers following the lukewarm reception they received at the Nairobi Club that was frequented by government officials. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO

At the turn of the 20th century, the area that is today known as Muthaiga was part of the Karura Forest, which was regarded as sacred ground by the Kikuyu people. The name Muthaiga refers to a tree whose bark was used as medicine by the Kikuyu.

As early as 1901, the colonial government recognised Karura Forest and the nearby City Park as sacred and forbade any occupation. However, John Ainsworth, the Nairobi Sub-Commissioner granted 1,600 acres of freehold land in the area to Frederick Baker on condition that he would supply Nairobi with dairy products.

Frederick Baker was born in December 1849 in Bunbury, Cheshire, England to Thomas Baker, a draper and grocer, and Eliza Sandbach. Before coming to East Africa, Frederick was a cotton cloth agent in Stratford, Lancashire where it is claimed he became bankrupt.

He arrived in Nairobi in 1901 with his second (or possibly his third) wife Marie Vera (popularly known as “Queenie”) and his son Guy, a former shipping clerk (born to his first wife Alice in October 1882).

Marie was the driving force behind the business and she established a thriving dairy with modern equipment. She became the main supplier of dairy products in the Protectorate and won many prizes at local events. Her butter was known as “siagi ya queenie” and was much preferred to the alternative product imported from India in tins. Marie ran the business with military precision and dealt ruthlessly with customers who were delinquent in paying their bills, frequently appearing in court pursuing defaulters.

In 1903, Marie was having difficulty in managing all 1,600 acres and she decided to lease 500 acres to other settlers, including James Archibald Morrison, a retired captain of the Grenadier Guards. Her husband joined the Nairobi Section (Mounted) of the Volunteer Reserve in 1904.

Marie sold her property known as “Homestead Farm” in 1912 to Archie Morrison for £20 an acre, perhaps because of her husband’s advancing age (he was then 71), he was not well. The couple left for England leaving Guy behind. J.C. Coverdale surveyed the title for Morrison and discovered the land measured only 754 acres. In total Morrison owned about 2,000 acres lying between Mathare and Getathuru Rivers with

the Old Kiambu Road forming the eastern boundary.

By this time the ban on occupation had been lifted and Morrison transformed the dairy farm into residential plots of between 10 and 50 acres designed by the architectural firm of Henderson and Ward. He insisted that each sub divisional plot should be held on a freehold title containing highly restrictive covenants which are still enforceable by each plot owner to this day.

In the early 1900s many settlers were farming upcountry and it took up to five days to trek to Nairobi by ox-wagon, depending on how far you lived, to get supplies.

Nairobi Club, the only one available in those days was frequented mainly by government officials who looked down on the settlers and were often at loggerheads with them over their land distribution policies. Morrison built a club on the other side of town and on New Year’s Eve 1913, Muthaiga Country Club opened its doors. For many years Morrison was the president of the club.

While most of the members were hardworking settlers coming to restock their supplies, others, fed up with the tedium of upcountry life and perhaps depressed over crop failures, let more than just their hair down earning the club the unflattering nickname “The Mouline Rouge” of Nairobi.

Morrison designed and cut out tracks which became the roads that today divide Muthaiga into blocks. By the end of World War, I, Muthaiga had developed into a township separated from the rest of Nairobi by patches of undeveloped land.

Because of dusty and muddy roads with no nearby shopping facilities, Muthaiga was not amongst the most desirable areas in Nairobi. However, in 1928 Muthaiga was absorbed into Nairobi Municipality.

Today, Muthaiga, situated four kilometres from the city centre lies along shady tarmac roads that wind through lush wooded hills and valleys interspersed by streams that turn into brawling rivers during the rainy seasons.

It is home to wealthy Kenyans, long term expatriates on contract and old settlers living in “ambassadorial” mansions. The area has been likened to Beverly Hills in California.

While the restrictive covenants in this area are said to apply even today, I could not help noticing a new development of multiple-occupation dwelling houses towards Muthaiga Country Club.