ugnet_: Illegal human settlement

[Mitayo Potosi]

Last Updated: Thursday, 28 November 2002
Illegal human settlement

By Cephas Chitsaka recently in Nairobi
For decades an illegal human settlement in Nairobi, Kenya has inched itself into
Africa's record books.

It has earned a distinction, which no Kenyan is proud of.

The huge slum, known as Kibera, an ugly mass of tinned roofs and pole and mud
walls stretching as far as the eye can see is located just on the outskirts of Nairobi.
It is now recognised as the biggest slum on the continent.

Some 700 000 own or rent dilapidated match box structures in Kibera, a Swahili
word for bush. The figure could have topped one million by now had it not been
that the swathe of land is almost full.

A filthy contaminated river on one side of Kibera; a lush golf course on another
and a plush suburb have stopped its physical expansion. The sharp contrast
startles any visitor.

Kibera epitomises the deprivation, neglect and extreme poverty haunting slum
dwellers who have some of the wealthiest people in Nairobi as neighbours.

They are not alone in this poverty trap, as there are other growing slums dotted
around Nairobi. At least 60 percent of Nairobi residents live in slums but occupy
less than five percent of the city.

Nairobi has a population of over 3,5-million people.

Kibera is the largest of them all because of its closeness to the city centre and
industries. The residents' living conditions have been variously described as
deplorable, shocking and appalling. So squalid are the conditions that today
Kibera stands as a tourist attraction in Kenya.

Visitors cannot help but wonder how such a large concentration of poverty
stricken people can survive to see another day under the terrible conditions in
Kibera.

A cholera outbreak can wipe out the entire slum while a fire can easily raze most of
the structures to the ground because they are build close to each other.

Sometime last year, a fire broke out and Fire Brigade vehicles could not negotiate
their way through the muddy roads.

As tourists trudge up and down the almost impassable muddy roads, they see
hunger and disease etched on the faces of most residents.

Bare-footed little children playing in the dirt greet the prying passers-by;
especially white people in broken English, hoping a shilling might be tossed their
direction.

But in most cases all they get is a flash of the camera and a smile from the visitors
who are surprised by the warmth and friendliness of a people with nothing to their
names.

Kibera is such an attraction for very wrong reasons. Slums are found in most
African countries. But the huge difference is the size of this illegal settlement and
the squalid conditions under which the people live here.

In Zimbabwe, the closest we have to a slum is a squatter camp. The camps we
have here are nothing when compared to the massive slums in Kenya.

Imagine 60 percent of Harare residents staying in Porta Farm or Hatcliffe Extension.
It will be a pathetic and sorry sight.

In Kibera raw sewage flows right next to the shacks as it criss-crosses through the
many little dirt filled streams. On the door of a crumbling one-roomed shack, a
woman sits on a stool munching a piece of bread unconcerned about the stench
from sewage flowing next to her doorstep.

She says she has been living in this community for 12 years and raw sewage is
part of her life. She now hardly notices the little stream as it snacks its way
towards the horizon.

Slum dwellers have only now begun to see what a toilet looks like following the
construction of a few by some non-governmental organisations. They have
invented their own which "fly". Flying toilets are plastic bags, which they use at
night and then fling into the air the next morning. They land anywhere.

The few toilets now available are always locked and provide a source of income as
people pay to use them.

Clean running water is a scarce expensive commodity for this community. Decades
ago, when the river nearby was clean, residents had no problems with water. But
as the population in the slum grew the river was contaminated to a point where it is
now even dangerous to bath in it. Few dare take the risk.

Water for daily use, therefore, has to be bought from the unscrupulous water
vendors who are connected to the council's water system. A 20-litre container
costs three Kenyan shillings and a small family requires three containers of water
daily.

The cost rises to 20 shillings a container if the taps run dry. Nairobi taps run dry
almost every week.

Slum dwellers pay street vendors five to 20 times for a litre of water, what their
more affluent neighbours pay for municipal supplies.

To get connected to the council water system, one has to bribe council officials.
There is no other way. Apart from bribing officials applicants have also to pay for
the pipes from companies owned by the same officials. The council is supposed to
provide the pipes but somehow it has never done so.

Widespread corruption also means that many water vendors get connected to the
system but never pay a cent.

In fact, according to a council official the majority of vendors get free water
through illegal connections. Council has turned a blind eye.

While poverty pervades Kibera the entrepreneurial spirit is very high. As one
walks throughout the settlement there are rows and rows of makeshift shops
selling all kinds of commodities.

They even have little pharmacies, butcheries, nightclubs and bed and breakfast
facilities. The big difference is that all these will be housed in makeshift structures.

There are many primary schools, the majority owned by private individuals but the
conditions are appalling.

The biggest problem for Kibera is that the Kenyan government has hardly
recognised the presence of the slum settlement, hence turned the other way as the
settlement expanded.

No basic services were ever provided. The slum dwellers were left to do whatever
they wanted in their collective misery.

History of Kibera tells us that it was a creation of British colonialists who first
settled people from Sudan who had fought on their side in the war. From a few
hundred the settlement has grown to the present frightening figures.

The Kenyan government appeared not really interested in their well being. But that
is slowly changing as the Kenyan political landscape is no longer the same. With
elections on next month politicians view Kibera as a sea of potential voters who
can swing the vote in the presidential election.

Kibera is now a political hotbed, sometimes wrecked by violence. The sight of 4x4
vehicles meandering down the dirty and narrow roads and politicians in designer
suits is common.

But conditions have remained the same. And as corruption is endemic in Kenya,
Kibera residents are at the mercy of resource-rich landlords who illegally grab
plots, build makeshift structures and charge whatever rent they like.

The majority are absentee landlords who are the least bothered about providing
services. Some 60 percent of Kibera's rent paying residents are part of the formal
wage sector because of its central location. The slum is near the industrial area and
easily accessible from downtown Nairobi. These factors conspire to push rents up
and make the slum a plum choice for investors.

In fact a recent UN-HABITAT slum rent survey shows that acquiring a slum
property is one of the most lucrative investments in Kenya. The return on
investment in a slum is under two years compared to 10 to 15 years in the formal
market. For instance, a room in Kibera that rents out for US$12,80 a month yields
an annual return of more than 100 percent.

"These vast profits are driven by the absence of title deeds. Though local officials
charge a sizeable transaction cost to facilitate the irregular allocation of land to
individuals who are interested in building structures for rent as commercial
enterprise, investments costs are minimal especially as the land is free and building
materials are minimal. Furthermore, the costs of irregular land allocation are passed
directly onto the tenants, another factor that pushes up rents."

The result, according to the study, is that tenants pay 30 to 40 percent of their
income on housing but receive neither maintenance nor services in return.
Landlords never issue a formal rent lease. Tenants can and are evicted at a
moment's notice, often with violence.

The UN-HABITAT regional office is headquartered in Nairobi and one of its key
areas of focus is Kibera. So far not much has been achieved and UN officials point
to the slow progress in having an agreement with the Kenyan government.

Kibera is also now a prime target for several NGOs who source huge sums of
money from foreign donors for the upgrading of the slum. The money is, however,
chewed up by salaries and sumptuous living of the NGO officials who are only
seen the following year when they package yet another sad project proposal for
presentation to donors.

UN-HABITAT is conducting a study in Kibera to see how it can be upgraded.
Millions of shillings are to be spent on the project expected to provide guidelines
on how to attack the Kibera disaster.

UN-HABITAT executive director, Mrs Anna Tibaijuka, told journalists from
English speaking African countries attending a water policy workshop in Nairobi
recently that awareness has to be brought among the people and policy makers of
the appalling conditions of the urban poor in slums.

She said more than half of the populations in most cities were living in squalor, in
indignity and in sickness, as the authorities were unable to address the challenge
of providing essential services.

Mrs Tibaijuka said the business as usual approach would not bring the desired
changes in the people's lives.

"We need a fundamental change in our approach, we need a strategy that is
workable and realistic and will make a difference in the lives of the people."


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"Ivinicus factus sum veritabem diceus." ( I have become an enemy for speaking the truth ) St Paul!
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Mitayo Potosi


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