The long-standing curio shops at the iconic Great Rift Valley View Point have been demolished to pave the way for the ongoing expansion of the Rironi–Mau Summit highway.
Traders who operated at the viewpoint say the highway expansion has disrupted their businesses after they lost the spaces where they sold souvenirs to visitors.
A video seen by the Star shows piles of timber, wooden frames, broken concrete, shattered tiles and other debris where the structures previously stood.
Some traders’ salvaged materials remain scattered across the site as workers clear sections of the demolition area.
An excavator can also be seen operating in the background while workers in reflective safety gear clear rubble and other construction material.
For traders who sold carvings, soapstone items, Maasai shukas, beads, bangles, necklaces and other souvenirs, the changes have meant losing a place where they had built businesses around visitors stopping to view the Rift Valley.
One trader said the viewpoint had long attracted visitors from different parts of the world, creating an opportunity for vendors to sell locally made products.
He said traders hoped the highway works would be completed and that the viewpoint would be developed in a way that allowed them to return to the area.
“We would like them to finish the road and develop the viewpoint, but bring us back here. Bring us back here, because this is where we make our living,” he said.
The trader said many businesses that operated at the viewpoint supported families, with children and other dependants relying on the income generated from sales.
He estimated that close to 300 people had been involved in business activities around the viewpoint, although the current number was lower.
He also said some traders had employed other people and that the displacement had affected workers who depended on those businesses.
The ongoing works form part of the wider Rironi–Mau Summit highway expansion.
The 175-kilometre A8 section from Rironi to Mau Summit is among the road projects being implemented under the government’s wider highway upgrade programme, and construction is expected to improve traffic flow and road safety along the busy corridor.
President William Ruto launched the dualling project in November 2025 and directed contractors to complete the Rironi–Nakuru–Mau Summit road by June 1, 2027.
The trader said vendors had continued to wait for guidance on whether they would be allowed to return once the works around the viewpoint are complete.
He said the traders had historically relied on visitors stopping at the viewpoint and buying souvenirs, making the location an important source of income for the surrounding community.
“There are almost 300 of us. There are children we have educated here, young people, mothers and others who depend on this place,” he said.
The wider highway project has involved earthworks and roadbed preparation around the viewpoint, with terraced sections and boundary posts visible along the developing road corridor.
The Rironi–Mau Summit project is part of the Northern Corridor, a major transport route linking Nairobi with the Rift Valley and western Kenya.
Demolished curio shops at the Great Rift Valley View Point following ongoing expansion works along the Rironi–Mau Summit highway.