‘Madharau estate’: Residents struggle to shed off 'annoying' name

Residents of a fairly populous estate in Thika want its old name completely dropped, and new one adopted.

Sitting off Garissa Road, and clearly ‘struggling’ to keep pace with neighbouring estates, Madharau area, as it has been known for over three decades, is a lonely hood.

The mention of the name ‘Madharau’ to any visitor draws the “What?” reaction -- with many including some residents wondering why that name.

According to the residents, the estate was initially a shanty for squatters – and was conveniently known as Songa-Songa ­– and was known for its illicit brew, drugs, illicit sex trade and other criminal activities.

In the 1980s, many criminals settled in the area, making it, according to residents, ‘a hot bed of all manner of antisocial behaviour’.

Many say that it was not uncommon to bump into drunkards openly peeing on roads, in broad daylight, or blacked out, or even men and women (old and young) engaged in open prostitution.

Residents of the neighbouring estates like Umoja, Nanasi and Makongeni, enraged by these acts, would say: “Hii ni madharau” (this is disrespectful). It was not long before its residents were christened “Watu wa Madharau”.

Samuel Muigai was a young man when the estate got its Madharau name.

He told Wananchi Reporting that: “People from the surrounding neighborhood avoided us like us.  

“Drunk adults relieved themselves in the open, and without a care in the world. Young men, women, and even the elderly of the estate, turned the nearby thickets into lodgings. It was like Sodom and Gomorrah. Industries nearby stopped hiring dwellers of Madharau,” Muigai told Wananchi Reporting.

Adding that: “Criminals here had a ruthless leader nicknamed “Kamadharau”. He evoked fear in the estate and beyond. He died in the hands of a mob at a nearby estate.”

“Thugs would rob you in your house and proceeded to cook and enjoy a meal as you watched. These were people we knew. Reporting it to authorities was akin to putting a noose around your neck,” Dan Kamau, a community leader narrated.

In the early 2000s, the journey to redeem the area began in earnest; and many criminals were arrested, many others killed by mobs.

The estate has since been renamed Goshen, derived from the Bible, but the new name is yet mask the old one.

A pastor in the area told Wananchi Reporting that: “I don’t like to talk about that past. We are trying hard to shed the old name off. We want to be known as Goshen, not Madharau”.

The estate has recently witnessed growth, with several story buildings taking root, and replacing the chain of mabati houses that had for decades become synonymous with Madharau.