Friday, August 22, 2025 - The Government has unveiled plans to relocate the iconic Kenya National Archives from its current site in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), citing heightened security concerns.
Gender and Culture Principal Secretary, Ummi Bashir,
speaking on Thursday, August 21st, said the decision followed recent
youth protests in the city, during which demonstrators reportedly attempted to
torch the historic building.
PS Bashir explained that moving the Archives to a quieter
and more secure location would better protect the country’s heritage while also
providing a more conducive environment for researchers.
“We would like to safeguard the assets in this building and
take them to an environment where researchers can work seamlessly and
comfortably,” she stated.
The National Archives, located between Tom Mboya Street and
Moi Avenue, is both a heritage site and a popular Nairobi landmark.
Established in the 1930s as the headquarters of National and
Grindlays Bank, the building was later converted into the Kenya National
Archives through an Act of Parliament two years after independence.
It houses over 40,000 historical photographs, parliamentary
records, artefacts, and African art collections, with recent additions
including more than 300,000 digitised colonial-era files returned by the UK.
The announcement has drawn mixed reactions.
While some Kenyans welcomed the move as necessary for
security and preservation, others expressed skepticism, speculating on hidden
agendas to seize the prime CBD property.
Many Nairobians also joked that without the iconic landmark, meeting friends in town would become more confusing.
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