Post Independence
After independence, Nairobi grew rapidly and this growth put pressure on the city's infrastructure. Power cuts and water shortages were a common occurrence, though in the past few years better city planning has helped to put some of these problems in check.
In 1975 Nairobi was the host city of the 5th Assembly of the World Council of Churches.
The U.S. embassy in the heart of Nairobi was bombed on August 7, 1998 by Al-Qaida, as one of a series of U.S. embassy bombings. Over two hundred civilians were killed in the embassy and another 213 persons in the surrounding area with more than 5,000 people injured. The effects were widespread and devastating. The embassy was completely destroyed and another forty buildings severely damaged. A seven-story building collapsed killing at least 60 people.
The growth of Nairobi has put pressure on the government to develop and maintain protected lands such as the Nairobi National Park. The new residential areas for the growing human population are making inroads into lands that have been traditionally the migration routes for huge animal herds.
Following the disputed Kenyan presidential election, 2007, serious violence broke out in Nairobi. In the Mathare slum, Kikuyu and Luo gangs burned more than 100 homes.
Read more about this topic: History Of Nairobi
Famous quotes containing the words post and/or independence:
“To the old saying that man built the house but woman made of it a “home” might be added the modern supplement that woman accepted cooking as a chore but man has made of it a recreation.”
—Emily Post (1873–1960)
“Traditionally in American society, men have been trained for both competition and teamwork through sports, while women have been reared to merge their welfare with that of the family, with fewer opportunities for either independence or other team identifications, and fewer challenges to direct competition. In effect, women have been circumscribed within that unit where the benefit of one is most easily believed to be the benefit of all.”
—Mary Catherine Bateson (b. 1939)