Nairobi’s Estate Crisis: How a Vision Turned Into Urban Chaos in 1978

The planned estates of Donholm, Tena, Tassia, Savannah, and Pipeline were meant to be a model of orderly, middle-income housing in Nairobi. 

Instead, they stand as a testament to political mismanagement and financial mishandling, their promise unfulfilled for decades. In the 1970s, Joseph Goldberger, an Israeli engineer, was commissioned to design a series of well-structured communities in Nairobi’s eastern suburbs. The aim was to provide quality housing for civil servants and professionals, alongside integrated services like schools, clinics, and efficient infrastructure. 

Goldberger was backed by Harun Muturi, a prominent businessman with close ties to President Jomo Kenyatta's inner circle. Together, they formed Continental Developers, the company charged with realising the vision. Goldberger’s plans were initially inspired by the success of Buruburu, a nearby estate developed under government oversight and World Bank funding. Buruburu’s organised design, titled homes, and functional infrastructure represented a benchmark for what could be achieved with careful planning. 

Goldberger hoped to replicate this success across Eastlands. However, his project lacked the institutional safeguards that had protected Buruburu from political interference and mismanagement. In 1978, Goldberger and Muturi secured a Sh85 million loan from the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) to finance the development of land in Donholm. However, within days of the loan being disbursed, Sh50 million was redirected, reportedly at the suggestion of NBK’s chairman, Stanley Munga Githunguri, into an interest-bearing account. 

The funds were then transferred to entities unrelated to the project, with no documentation or receipts. The money disappeared. With much of the funding gone, Continental Developers could not continue with the planned construction. Infrastructure projects were abandoned, leaving plot owners, many of them teachers and civil servants, with undeveloped land. Informal building began to take over as roads remained unpaved, sewer systems were never installed, and City Hall failed to intervene.

Investigations later revealed deeper irregularities. A court case, led by Justice Alfred Simpson, uncovered that part of the land in Donholm had been transferred to a company owned by Githunguri. The National Bank of Kenya, it seemed, had financed a private transaction in which its own chairman had a direct interest. By 1980, the loan remained unpaid, and the project was effectively abandoned. NBK demanded full repayment from Goldberger, adding the missing Sh50 million to the outstanding balance.

The collapse of Goldberger’s Eastlands project marked the end of Nairobi’s brief period of infrastructure-led urban planning. What was once meant to be a model for orderly growth became a symbol of failed governance, leaving behind the chaotic urban sprawl that defines Eastlands today. Goldberger passed away in 2000, largely forgotten, but the consequences of the project’s failure are still evident in the fractured and congested communities of the area.