NAIROBI, Kenya — The fig tree, four stories high and almost a century old, its arched branches forming a giant canopy, has served as a landmark for generations of Kenyans in the bustling commercial neighborhood of Westlands in the capital, Nairobi. “Not all trees have the same status,” said Peter Kiarie Njoroge, an elder in the Kikuyu tribe, which regards fig trees as the “house of God,” and the abode of their ancestors. This one, he said, craning his neck to peer up at the giant leaves, is “like a guard post.”But the famed tree’s days are numbered. It is standing in the path of a four-lane, 17-mile highway now being built through the city of Nairobi. Some Kenyans have been outraged that the highway builders have already mowed down dozens of trees along the route, and might cut through Uhuru Park — an iconic downtown swathe of green.

Source: International New York Times November 08, 2020 07:52 UTC