Shauri Moyo

Shauri Moyo is one of Nairobi’s oldest estates dating back to the late 1930s. It was the main settlement for British American Tobacco workers and was also a resting place for European’s horses during the colonial days. Sensational rumba artist Daudi Kabaka wrote a song about the slum Shauri Moyo.
 The name is a Swahili word for “consult your heart.” Africans had to consult their hearts to determine whether they would stay or not when housing became a problem; People were asked to choose whether or not to move into the horse houses by the colonial masters.
 It is perhaps the busiest of Nairobi slums, located on the left side of Jogoo Road from the Nairobi’s Central Business District. As one enters the place, you meet thousands of residents carrying on their daily business. Residents like the place and they say that the security has improved greatly over the last couple of years. There is a social hall and a rehabilitation centre in the slum. Shauri Moyo houses Kenya’s largest meat joint, Burma, which was started in 1939 during the Second World War. It is named after Burma—now called Myanmar.