But it is no ordinary tree.

But it is no ordinary tree.

The majestic fig tree, which is 100 years old and towers over a section of Waiyaki Way in the 

west of Nairobi, had been sentenced to death to make way for an expressway that is under construction.

The 27km (16-mile) road will link the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the Westlands area of Nairobi, joining Waiyaki Way, the main road that leads to western Kenya and Uganda.

'Beacon of cultural heritage'

No-one quite knows why exactly the president changed the mind of government and issued a decree to spare the fig tree.

image captionThe plan was to chop down the 100-year-old tree to widen the road

He simply described it as a "beacon of Kenya's cultural and ecological heritage".

Indeed, the tree has huge cultural and religious significance for Bantu-speaking communities.

Some sections of the Luhya community in western Kenya, such as the Maragoli, revere the "mukumu" or fig tree. It was traditionally a courtroom under whose branches, cases would be heard and determined by elders. Fig trees are also used as landmarks in Maragoliland.

Signal to transfer power

For the Kikuyu people of central Kenya, the most populous ethnic group in the country, the fig tree known as "mugumo" has traditionally been a shrine, a place of worship and sacrifices.

The Kikuyu do not allow a fig tree to be cut down - they believe such an act could spell disaster.

When a fig tree withers or falls to the ground naturally, the Kikuyu see it as a bad omen or a signal to transfer power from one traditional age set or generation to the next. Each generation rules for about 30 years.