How Joska and Malaa rose from wilderness to thriving satellite towns

In 2014, through a referral, he visited Joska in Machakos County, then a very dry bushland.

He was impressed and bought land measuring 50 by 100 acre in Joska, at a cost of Sh320,000. He then found an even bigger piece of land in Malaa, the next town centre after Joska. He first bought 8.5 acres in Malaa, Machakos.

“The two areas were deserted, and we heard very scary stories. The land was inhabited by snakes, hyenas, antelopes, and zebras,” he says.

Today, where the wild animals once roamed freely stands gated communities, shopping centres and social amenities.

In 2015, he fell ill, and while in the hospital, so many thoughts ran through his mind.

"Suppose I don't survive, what would happen to my wife and children without a place to call home? They would suffer. That deeply troubled me,” he tells the BDLife.

That thought became a turning point, and he started secretly developing the land in Joska without his wife’s knowledge. The area had no electricity, and homeowners were few.

In 2017, after electricity was brought to Joska, he relocated his family and also built a church, which, he says, motivated other landowners to develop their plots.

“When they saw a church, they gained confidence in the area, even though the infrastructure was still poor and there were no crucial amenities like schools, hospitals, or police stations,” says Mr Mulwa who is a pastor.

Over the years, Joska and Malaa have grown tremendously. Gated communities have sprouted. Rent prices have jumped to Sh45,000 for three-bedroom homes, prices that are now competing with estates near Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD). Maisonettes for sale are modern and priced at Sh9 million to Sh12 million.

Many city workers now live in Joska and Malaa, and commute to the CBD, Westlands or Upper Hill for work.

While official figures for Malaa are not available, HassConsult's reports indicate that the average price per acre in satellite towns increased by 1.9 percent in the last quarter of 2024.

Samuel Nyawachi and Alex Mutuku are among the landowners who bought land in Joska and have seen a sharp rise in prices.

Mr Nyawachi has lived in Joska since 2008. “An in-law told me of this area, and I bought a 50 by 100-acre plot for Sh160,000,” he says.

His land is about 3.2 kilometres off the main Kangundo Road. He later bought two more pieces of land, on which he has now built rental houses.

Today, Mr Nyawachi says, the same size of land goes for over Sh1.2 million, and those near the road Sh2 million. As more people show interest, an acre has risen to cost between Sh6 and Sh7 million.

“Initially, transport was problematic, but now, we are served by about five matatu companies. Most of our residents work in Nairobi,” he says.

On his land, Mr Nyawachi also grows maize and beans and keeps cows and goats, with a ready market in nearby the market centres.

Escape pollution and noise

Mr Mutuku says he moved to Malaa in 2015, to escape from the city’s pollution and noise.

“I initially came here intending to buy a plot, but I saw the potential as a businessperson, especially in Malaa town,” he says.

At the time, he was running a hardware store in Ruai, now he has expanded and has two more hardware stores in Malaa.

“I bought a 40 by 60-acre piece of land in 2019 for Sh500,000, which is now home to my family,” he says, "the land is about 500 metres from Malaa shopping centre."

Seven years later, a similar parcel is valued at Sh1.5 million.

Gated communities

Raphael Oguta, one of the home developers, says investors are flocking to the area because it offers a serene environment for raising families and engaging in activities like farming and livestock keeping.

Malaa is also witnessing improved infrastructure.

“These areas are metropolitan, attracting people from all diverse backgrounds. They are calm, far from city noise and pollution, and have no industries,” says Mr Oguta, director of Mint Villa, a gated community in Malaa.

He is also behind TwinFalls City, a 128-housing-unit gated community whose development was completed last year in Malaa, and Savana Greens in Joska, in 2020.

Mr Oguta’s views are echoed by Mr Mulwa, who notes that towns along Kangundo Road began experiencing massive growth about five to six years ago.

“When Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, many people who owned land here relocated and started developing it. Some built simple structures, grew crops, and kept livestock. The rest is history,” he says.

Built for own homes

A visit to Tumaini Estate, for instance, reveals homes where residents engage in dairy farming, goat and poultry rearing, rabbit keeping, and the cultivation of vegetables, maize, beans, cowpeas, Napier grass, and sunflowers.

They rely on rain, while some have dug boreholes and constructed reservoirs to harvest and store water.

The rise of Joska and Malaa has also led to the development of nearby towns such as Kantafu.

Despite the presence of weather-beaten roads, which residents urge the national and Machakos county governments to upgrade, community chair Alloys Achuka says security has improved significantly.

“Earlier, there were some cases of insecurity, but now, thanks to the unity and harmony among residents, we have no regrets investing here,” Mr Achuka says, a retired technician who bought a 50 by 100-acre of land for Sh100,000. That was in 2009.

Now investors are looking to build more schools, colleges, recreation centres with swimming pools, hospitals, restaurants, and supermarkets.

Originally, the land in Joska and Malaa was reportedly dominated by white people who operated animal ranches, so it is not ancestral land.

They later sold it to locals as part of settlement schemes and to real estate companies, which continue to subdivide and sell the land to newcomers.

“People buy parcels directly from the owners, and the paperwork corresponds with what is on the ground,” Mr Mulwa says.

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