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Yet to be built Ronald Ngala bronze sculpture gazetted as a national monument


Two years ago, the government announced plans to honour the late Ronald Gideon Ngala with a life-size bronze sculpture to be erected in the Nairobi Business District (CBD).

But that is yet to happen.

But then, in a gazette notice, Cabinet Secretary for Sports and Culture Amina Mohammed says the site was found to have historical value and would be protected.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 25 (1) (d) of the National Museums and Heritage Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture, and Heritage declares the statue specified in the Schedule, which she considers being of historical interest, to be a monument within the meaning of the Act,” the notice read.

In 2019, in a tender advert published in the local dailies, the National Museum of Kenya (NMK) announced it’s was in the process of procuring the services of an artist, who was to design the life-size bronze sculpture that was to be a permanent reminder of the achievements and contributions of the Coast region kingpin.

According to the state corporation, the statue was to be erected along Ronald Ngala Street, Nairobi.

“The sculpture is envisaged as a dynamic statue showing a recognizable likeness to Ronald Ngala and conveying through stance a heroic presence. It is anticipated to be an imposing, powerful, and engaging pose of Ronald Ngala with his right hand lifted up,” the tender read in part.

Ngala died in 1972 at the Kenyatta National Hospital after being in a coma for several days following a road accident. An official government report claimed the accident was caused by a bee attack on his car.

His driver survived the accident without injury.

Ngala, who co-founded the now-defunct Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) political party in 1960 which he later merged with Kanu in 1965, died of injuries sustained from a road accident that occurred along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway. He was 49.

Before his death, Ngala was a minister in Kenyatta’s Cabinet and MP for Kilifi South constituency.