The remains of a burnt tyre that protesting youth had used as a barricade lies on the road in Kenol town in early October 2020.
Kenol town is a study in contradictions: blessed with rapid growth, it’s a settlement defined as much by its meteoric rise as by the darker shadows trailing it.
A gateway to Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Embu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Laikipia counties from Nairobi and Kiambu, Kenol sits at a strategic crossroads.
Located 55 kilometres from Nairobi, it marks the end of the eight-lane Thika superhighway and doubles as the administrative seat of Murang’a South Sub-county. It is awash with government officers, brokers, petty criminals and, in its back streets, chang’aa dens, gambling spots and contraband dealers.
Though younger than Murang’a town, the county capital, Kenol has grown into a flashier and brasher urban centre. Just like Las Vegas in the United States—renowned for its excesses—Kenol, founded about 25 years ago, has cultivated its own cocktail of promise and peril.
According to Maragua MP Mary wa Maua, the town was nearly called Gitura, but locals chose another route.
They “simply picked the name of the pioneer petrol station—Kenol—and adopted it as their identity,” she explained.
That petrol station, established by former Kanu chairman William Mbote along the Thika–Makutano highway, became a landmark. The area was also home to the late freedom fighter and Kandara MP Bildad Kagia, who ran a posho mill here before his death on March 7, 2005. Efforts by Senator Kembi Gitura and former Maragua MP Elias Mbau to rename the town in Kagia’s honour failed, as the name Kenol proved too entrenched.
Yet its growth has been dogged by turbulence. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Gilbert Masengeli recently inaugurated Changai Police Station to reinforce security alongside Kenol Police Station.
“This region is reeling from narcotics, illicit brews and gender-based violence—crimes that have claimed 12 lives in the past two years,” the police boss said. “We are here to deal with these vices that tarnish your name and to unlock your potential for investment.”
The construction of the Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway at Kakuzi area on May 31, 2022.
The town’s economy tells a story of staggering expansion. Two decades ago, an acre of land sold for between Sh200,000 and Sh600,000. Today, the same fetches between Sh15 million and Sh25 million. Yet this growth has come with tragedy.
On July 7, 2025, goons looted County Supermarket, leaving owner Annabel Njambi Sh200 million in the red.
“Twenty-seven years ago, I was a kerosene seller. I rose to become a multimillionaire investor, only for one day of madness to throw me back into poverty,” she said. Still, she remains undaunted: “Kenol gives me hope. I will rise again, even stronger.”
Barely a month later, on August 5, residents were stunned when 35-year-old Stephen Mwangi allegedly sneaked into Kenol Police Station and hanged himself inside the armoury. Locals offered conflicting accounts.
“I had seen him two days earlier in a bhang and gambling den near the station,” said loader Cyrus Ngemwa. The suggestion that such dens could exist alongside law enforcement provoked outrage from Murang’a County Youth and Sports Executive Manoah Gachucha.
“If this is true, then crime and law enforcement are in a marriage of sorts,” he said.
Other grim incidents abound. When Njoroge Muikamba. 28, fell to his death from the roof of AIPCA Church, police said he had been drunk when he slipped from a 35-foot perch.
The church itself is central to Kenol’s political lore. In 2020, then Deputy President William Ruto visited the church, triggering clashes between his supporters and rivals. Police lobbed tear gas canisters inside the church to stop him from addressing the faithful. When the dust settled, 15-year-old Peter Mbothu and 21-year-old Christopher Kariuki lay dead from knife wounds.
Kenol’s skyline today is a mix of modest and dilapidated structures, many owned by pensioners and heirs of pioneer investors. Some newer, flashy buildings are rumoured to be linked to money laundering.
Police officers who were deployed to Kenol town on October 4, 2020 following clashes between youths affiliated to different factions of Jubilee Party.
“I was in charge of security here between 2021 and 2023,” recalled Kajiado County Police Commander Alexander Shikondi. “We grappled with criminal gangs, narcotics, illicit brews, theft and transit crime. Before I left, we had drafted a 2027 action plan to secure the town, including establishing a courthouse. That plan is on course.”
Despite its notoriety, Kenol is also an affordable residential hub. Single rooms rent for about Sh3,000, bedsitters cost Sh5,000–Sh8,000, while commercial spaces range between Sh500 and Sh1,000 per square foot. Lodgings go for between Sh300 and Sh5,000 a night. But infrastructure has lagged behind. County Health Chief Officer Eliud Maina admitted that the lack of sewerage once slowed growth.
“This has now been addressed through a Sh1.5 billion sewerage line,” he said. “Kenol is unique because one side lies in Maragua Constituency and the other in Kandara Constituency,” the county official added.
