Uhuru Builds Private Airstrip At Northlands City

Mixed reactions ensued online on Wednesday, January 17 after a photo of a private airport located at the heart of Northlands City associated with former President Uhuru Kenyatta surfaced.

Viral Tea can confirm that the structure can easily be located through a search on Google Maps and is marked as Northlands Aerodrome, described as a domestic airport.

The airport contains a functional runway which can allow for the landing of private planes and jets. At the tail-end of the runway is an unmarked building, which is believed to be a hangar for aircraft.

A section of Kenyans congratulated the former President for making improvements during his retirement period, terming the building of his airport a generational asset, with some claiming that the airstrip serves Kenyatta University (KU) medical students.

An artistic representation of the Ksh500 billion Northlands City project. /NORTHLANDS CITY

"I know some medical students in k.u they are dropped every morning by those small planes every morning on that runway," claimed a user on X.

"Kenya should be having more of these private runways. Why should you have 50 acres of farmland & you don't have a runway cutting along the maize or wheat plantation? You just need underground electric lines & a few radio equipment to keep fully functional," another user weighed in.

Other Kenyans were worried about how the facility would be regulated considering that it was on private property, and raised fears that it may be used by a few individuals to smuggle unregulated goods into the country.

According to Wikimapia, the airstrip was completed in 2023 as part of the Ksh500 billion Northlands City project, an 11,576-acre farm just outside Nairobi, which is a dream project that Uhuru and his family have been planning to develop.

Approximately 15km outside Nairobi, Northlands, which covers the Eastern bypass from City Cabanas to Ruiru is currently utilized for livestock grazing and wildlife. The land is adorned with belts of eucalyptus trees, adding to the scenic view of the area.

It is currently occupied by Brookside Dairy Processing and Gicheha Farm, which supplies milk to the factory.

The Kenyatta family’s ambitious real-estate project would comprise residential, industrial and commercial units. The estimated population the units would host is 250,000 individuals.

According to a report in the Northlands City master plan, the upcoming city is expected to surpass Tatu City despite sharing similarities.

The report, which was submitted to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), states that Northlands City will require double the amount of investment required for Tatu City (Ksh240 billion).

The city is being constructed as an alternative to Nairobi Central Business District (CBD), which is crowded as is.

“Many of the office buildings within the CBD are not well suited to modern business requirements, and some businesses are now considering moving out of the CBD, or have moved out and have opted for the edge of city centre/suburban locations,” the report indicated.

Proposed map of Northlands City. /TRIAD ARCHITECTS

Northlands City would have access to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and a strategic location near Nairobi CBD. The implementation of the Northlands City master plan is divided into four phases, which will take a total of 50 years to complete.

This would be another feather in the investment cap for the illustrious hierarchy, who have virtually invested in almost all sectors of the Kenyan economy.

They include banking, tourism, mining, insurance, media, education, agriculture, real estate and energy.