|
Le
notizie su Korogocho e gli slums di Nairobi
direttamente dai
quotidiani kenyani
|
|
28
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Warning over migration to urban
centres
NEWS
Publication Date: 11/28/2006
Half of
the world's population will be living in towns and cities by
next year, a UN official said yesterday.
Habitat executive
director Anna Tibaijuka said the number of people leaving in
slums worldwide will cross the billion mark next
year.
Addressing an international conference on waste
management at the UN headquarters at Gigiri, Nairobi, she said
Asia accounts for 60 per cent of the world's total slums
population with 581 million in 2005, while black Africa had 199
million and Latin America 134 million.
Some 283 million more
slum dwellers have joined the urban population worldwide in the
past 15 years, she added.
Dr Tibaijuka said that by next
year, one in every three city residents will be living in poor
housing, with no or few basic services such as electricity,
clean water and sanitation, as well as in overcrowded and
health-threatening conditions.
She warned that waste
production would continue if policy makers were not educated on
the need to address the problem.
Governance and regulatory
enforcement should be improved at the city and the national
levels if war against illegal transfer and disposal of toxic
waste was to be won, she said.
"We need to improve
capacity to expose those responsible and ensure they pay for
their actions," she added.
A high-level session is
expected to be opened by President Kibaki tomorrow.
|
|
|
|
28
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Managing waste a big
challenge
LETTERS
Publication Date: 11/28/2006
Refer
to an article (DN, November 2) entitled, 'Finally, the eyesore
could be no more'. This is a great eye-opener not only to
Kenyans, but to Africans, in general, on what we are yet to
accomplish in terms of waste management.
The high rate of
waste generation is inevitable with the rapid population growth.
From the various studies carried out on Nairobi's Dandora
dumping site, the smoke from the incineration and the
spontaneous combustion of pent-up methane have adverse effects
on the local people.
We can learn from other people’s
experiences instead of going through the same. Japan, which
burns most of its garbage, is now fighting a sharp increase in
cancer cases linked to dioxin, which is released by burning
plastics. Why fall under this trap?
Another study showed
that dioxins cause severe reproductive and developmental
problems. It is also clear that slum dwellers at Kariobangi,
Korogocho and Dandora suffer from respiratory tract
infections.
More so, huge masses of waste left on the ground
for a long time are one of the climate change causes. This is an
issue that attracted many of the delegates to Nairobi during the
recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change.
Dandora
dumping site is just an example of what has been happening in
many towns. In addition, most of the rivers in Nairobi are very
dirty due to effluent released by both the industries and
individuals. Plastic bags are also evident. Why don’t we
cooperate with the Government and solve this problem completely?
Non-governmental organisations, private recyclers,
city/municipal councils, the National Environmental Management
Authority and refuse collection companies can work together for
the good of us all.
This is what happens in developed
countries where all the stakeholders meet in conferences to
discuss their achievements, exhibit their products, share new
technologies and come up with strategies of moving forward, of
course, with support from the Government. Why can’t we
learn from them?
The waste management industry is a
multi-million enterprise if taken seriously. Kenyans could
exploit this area to reduce poverty by creating jobs for the
hordes of unemployed youth and also providing a clean
environment.
All the facts are there. Let us now join hands
to ensure that the problem is brought under control.
PURITY
KAGURE KARUGA,
Nairobi
|
|
|
|
27
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Grave danger in
dump-sites
EDITORIALS
Publication Date: 11/27/2006
Kenya
will from today host an important conference on the disposal and
international movement of hazardous waste.
The five-day
meeting at the United Nations complex in Nairobi, comes at a
time when it is becoming clear that many developing countries do
not have legislation to control such dumping; and those that do,
lack the monitoring and enforcement capacity.
The problem is
made worse by corruption, which makes is easy for the developed
nations to look to Africa as a dumping ground for such waste. A
pre-conference briefing yesterday was told that the illegal
transfer of hazardous waste to poor countries is on the rise.
The recent scandal in Cote d'Ivoire where tonnes of
extremely dangerous waste were dumped was cited. When such a
thing happens, it is easy to blame corrupt African governments.
But authorities from the countries where the hazardous waste
originates are also guilty. It is they who allow ships laden
with dangerous waste to sail looking for places to dump the
stuff that cannot be disposed off within their borders.
Such
transnational movement and dumping of hazardous waste should be
criminalised by international treaty. But we also need to look
at purely domestic dumping of materials which often we do not
consider to be hazardous.
The Dandora dumping site in
Nairobi has been cited as one area choking with electronic waste
- referred to as e-waste - from discarded refrigerators,
television sets, computers and mobile phones.
The situation
is replicated in many other dumping sites across the country.
E-waste releases a deadly cocktail of poisonous waste products
including lead, cadmium and mercury which can lead to serious
illness and death.
Kenya does not have effective legislation
against such waste. The irony is that we often are happy to
purchase used fridges, computers and other electronic goods.
We
think we are lucky to get such products at very low prices. All
we are doing is saving the disposal companies the headache and
cost of getting rid of obsolete and damaged items. And we are
gladly paying for the privilege of becoming their dumping
ground!
|
|
|
|
27
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Unep cautions over electronic waste
dumping
NEWS
Story by JEFF OTIENO
Publication Date:
11/27/2006
Kenya faces environmental and health problems
due to indiscriminate dumping of harmful electronic
waste.
United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep)
yesterday said residents risk contracting cancer, respiratory
and skin diseases due to poisonous by-products namely lead,
cadmium and mercury from electronic waste.
Dandora dumping
site was cited as chocking with electronic wastes – also
known as e-wastes – ranging from obsolete television sets,
computers, fridges to mobile phones.
Unep said many of the
obsolete electronic wastes originated from Europe and came to
Kenya and other African countries in form of donations.
The
concern comes ahead of a major conference on trans-boundary
movement of hazardous wastes to be held at Unep headquarters in
Gigiri, Nairobi.
International regulations
"Dumping
of such wastes in Africa would increase unless existing
international regulations on toxic materials, including those
under the international convention for the prevention of
pollution from ships, are properly enforced," the Unep
executive director, Mr Achim Steiner, warned.
The five-day
Nairobi meeting, which opens today, will review the 14-year-old
Basel Convention, which aims at controlling the trans-boundary
movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.
Speaking
yesterday, the executive secretary of the convention, Ms
Kuwabara-Yamamoto, said trafficking of hazardous wastes to poor
countries was on the rise.
Ms Yamamoto cited the recent
incident, in August, in which tonnes of hazardous waste were
dumped in Cote d'Ivoire, resulting in deaths and illnesses.
She
urged the 160-plus member states to help fight the problem.
The
wastes were dumped by a ship from Europe after its owners
colluded with unscrupulous individuals in the West African
country.
"One important lesson from the situation in
Cote d'Ivoire is that we have a serious problem with
enforcement," Ms Yamamoto said.
The Environment
minister, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, said there was need for public
awareness on the dangers of electronic wastes in Kenya, which he
described as very low.
"We need to make the public aware
of the health and environmental problems posed by electronic
wastes despite their crucial role in daily life," Prof
Kibwana said.
He announced his ministry would consult major
mobile telephone providers on how to properly manage wastes from
used mobile phones.
Un-wanted by-products
Like climate
change treaties, Mr Steiner said, the Basel Convention promoted
the clean technologies and processes that minimised unwanted
by-products.
Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-wastes
are generated worldwide every year, comprising more than five
per cent of all municipal solid wastes.
|
|
|
|
22
novembre 2006
|
KENYA
TIMES
Government unveils new housing vision
22/11/06
By
MWANGI MUIRURI
The government has outlined an ambitious
Housing vision 2020 that will address formal settlements for all
Kenyans. Coming as a multi pronged programme that will overhaul
the shelter sub sector of the housing industry, the emphasis is
premised on actualising the housing related Millennium
Development Goals (MDGS).
The programme will be implemented
through the Kenya Slums Upgrading Programme (KENSUP), the Civil
Servants Housing Scheme Fund-established through Legal Notice No
98 of September 15 2004) and a policy reform programme that will
open up the pension fund as well as Life Insurance policy
holders to be using their premiums as security to secure loans
for shelter development. For those benefiting from neither of
the above, a major reprieve will be the government regulating
rent payable by a low income tenant to a maximum of Sh2,500.
The
programmes are being coordinated by a team from the Ministry of
Housing comprising of Minister Soita Shitanda, his Permanent
Secretary Tirop Kosgey, Director of Housing Dr Julius Malombe as
well as Assistant Minister Betty Njeri Tett.
Other major
players are the National Housing Corporation led by its board’s
Managing Director James Ruitha and its chairman Bosire Ogero.
Ministerial representatives to the NHC board will be drawn from
Local government, Finance, Lands and housing ministries as well
as the inspectorate of State Corporations. The ultimate
Authority for the implementation will be the Housing Bill (2006)
currently under cabinet debate. The bill creates the Kenya
Housing Authority to coordinate, regulate and facilitate housing
and human settlements and to guide, monitor and build capacity
in the Housing sector.
The Housing Authority will further
recommend a five-yearly inspection and certification of
residential buildings to ensure acceptable standards.
In the
roll out plan that has already started in various City slums,
all slums will be upgraded at a cost of Sh883 billion by the
espoused year 2020. This will be in pursuit of meeting the MDGs
whose gist is aiming at uplifting the lives of the global 100
million slum dwellers by the year 2020. Kenya, by that year is
projected to be home to 5.4 million slum dwellers if serious
redress mechanisms are not put in place to rehabilitate her
slums. By the year 2010, Nairobi and its dormitory towns,
Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret that currently covers 75
percent of slum dwellers will have experienced the KENSUP
rebirth, according to the roll out plan.
Upon full
actualisation, the largest African slum- Kibera- measuring 239
hectares will assume a new modern estate look for the benefit of
the estimated 500,000 inhabitants. Already, a Sh485 million
phase one of the Kibera upgrading programme is on course
covering 600 house units. The upgrading is encompassing the 24
hectares of the Kibera-Soweto East village scheduled to be ready
by October 2007.
For the pensionable staff, their pension
fund deductions will be released as security for them to access
shelter loans from banking institutions. Currently, the fund
stands at a whooping Sh130 billion. Consequently, holders of
life insurance policies will also in this new arrangement be
using their policies to secure loans for shelter
development.
For the tenants living in low income earners’
Estates, the rent payable will be governed at a maximum ceiling
of Sh2, 500, the government making it upon itself to actualise
the standardised rent through a legislation that will be
increasing that maximum rent if inflation index demands so. This
will be implemented upon amendments to the 1959’s Rent
Restriction Act CAP 296 that mandates the Rent Restriction
Tribunal Courts to control rents chargeable by a landlord. A
shelter friendly clause that will chart a way of those
unjustifiably charging far beyond the set maximum of Sh2, 500 in
low income earners’ estates, will be included in the
amendments. The results are expected before January next
year.
For the civil servants, a housing scheme to benefit
them currently has been allocated Sh1.4 billion fund that will
establish 852 high rise shelter units by the fiscal year end
2006/7. This will see all dilapidated government houses
occupying prime land in areas like Ngara, Pangani, Kilimani,
Jogoo road among other areas being demolished to pave way for
the project. In Jogoo Road for instance, the contractor is
already on site.
|
|
|
|
21
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Lobbyists want police stations built in
slums
NEWS
Story by MICHAEL MUGWANG'A
Publication Date:
11/22/2006
Permanent police posts should be established
in Mathare and other slums, civil society groups have said.
This
would boost the war on crime, the seven non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) said yesterday and also called on Nairobi
Water and Kenya Power and Lighting companies to take charge of
their services in the slums for residents to stop paying
allegiance to gangs.
The NGOs said violence in Mathare and
other slums normally emanated from poor provision of security
and other services.
The organisations added they conducted
research after clashes broke out in Mathare and the findings
indicate the "desire by a few rich slum dwellers to exploit
the poor was the main cause of the fights."
The groups,
which include the Release Political Prisoners (RPP), the Muslim
Human Rights Forum, Shelter Forum and Bunge la Mwananchi, said a
clique of businessmen had enlisted the services of unemployed
youth and was colluding with the provincial administration to
fleece the slum dwellers.
They said some police officers and
politicians were on the payroll of the cartels exploiting the
residents.
RPP executive coordinator Stephen Musau accused
some officers of capitalising on community policing to aide
gangs in return for kickbacks.
Mr Musau urged the police
commissioner to "urgently review and strengthen the
policing" and also get rid of officers colluding with
criminals.
He said bad governance, poor leadership, "inverted
social values and politics" were some of the causes of
insecurity in slums.
The groups listed poverty, unemployment
and inequitable distribution of resources, among others, as
making residents vulnerable to manipulation and abuse by
unscrupulous businessmen and politicians.
They suggested the
provincial administration be overhauled to improve service
delivery. The groups also called for the improvement of
infrastructure.
"If this is not urgently done, then
Mathare is likely to remain volatile," said Mr Al-Amin
Kimathi of the Muslim forum.
|
|
|
|
20
novembre 2006
|
LA
STAMPA
[http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/esteri/200611articoli/14314girata.asp]
Nella
discarica di Nairobi, a discutere di ambiente
I
condizionatori degli ospiti stranieri fanno saltare la luce in
tutta la città
17/11/2006
di Gianluca
Nicoletti
NAIROBI. In questi giorni a Nairobi è
facile che improvvisamente salti la corrente in tutta la città.
Dopo l'ultimo black out all' Hotel Intercontinental mi dicono
che è colpa della Conferenza sul cambiamento
climatico.
Eppure è l'avvenimento più
importante della città, oltre seimila persone di tutto il
mondo si incontrano da una settimana, tra i prati verdi e le
colline fiorite, in una grande struttura al Gigiri, il quartiere
delle Nazioni Unite.
Qui discutono sul futuro del pianeta, ma
con un costo energetico che a volte fa saltare i contatori alla
città, esattamente come quando a casa si accendono la
lavatrice e il ferro da stiro assieme. Si fanno i conti sul
riscaldamento climatico in padiglioni muniti di condizionatori
sempre accesi, se poi mancasse la corrente sono pronti potenti
gruppi elettrogeni a gasolio.
I seimila si muovono
affannatissimi per conferenze tra lampioncini con luci sempre
accese anche di giorno, consumano dotazioni industriali di
bottigliette monodose d'acqua minerale, che diventano dopo un
paio di sorsi solo plastica da riciclare. Solo alle cinque
scatta il coprifuoco e la parola d'ordine è:
“Incontriamoci tutti al Carnivore”. Tappa obbligata
al locale esclusivo per chi vuol permettersi la bio diversità
gastronomica.
Arazzi afro e sedioline in zebra sintetica,
camerieri in divisa etnica armati di spiedoni giganteschi da cui
tagliano, a colpi di machete, bei tocchi di ciccia arrosto. Si
parte dal maiale e si arriva al coccodrillo, passando per lo
struzzo, lo gnu, la zebra e il cammello. In quel posto la
gioventù dorata di Nairobi ogni mercoledì si
incontra per la rock night, ma soprattutto per prendere accordi
per la prossima battuta di Hippo bushing. E' il passatempo
nazionale dei ragazzi benestanti kenioti, i figli di businessman
o politici. Gente che vive in quartieri come Muthaiga, Rosslyn o
Westland.
Per praticare la “spinta all'ippopotamo”
ci si sposta nella zona dei laghi al nord di Nairobi, tutto
naturalmente di notte e alla guida di mastodontici fuoristrada
da safari. Il gioco consiste nel dare una piccola botta sul
sedere all'ippopotamo che esce allo scoperto per brucare, la
bestiona comincia a correre verso l'acqua per mettersi in salvo
e inizia la gara a chi arriva prima. L'ippopotamo al galoppo
sfiora i 60 km all'ora e ha un'accelerazione formidabile,
l'unico consiglio è di non mettersi tra lui e l'acqua, in
questo caso ci si beccherebbe una cannonata da venti tonnellate.
Qualcuno, proprio per questo giochetto, ogni tanto ci lascia
la pelle. Nella comunità italiana conosco Francescomaria
Tuccillo, è l'avvocato napoletano che nel settembre 2003
era stato nominato vice ministro dell'irrigazione nel Governo
provvisorio di Baghdad, ora è consulente per l'Africa di
alcune società di Finmeccanica, per cui segue un progetto
di monitoraggio per le foreste e per le coste. Mi presenta le
guardie Masai assunte per la sicurezza di casa sua, nessuno si
avvicinerebbe a guerrieri sanguinari dai volti di bambino, sono
i ninja dell' Africa, gli unici autorizzati a girare armati di
lancia o machete. A Nairobi non si scherza, una signora italiana
di Muthaiga mi ha mostrato il suo “pulsante anti stupro”,
è un grosso bottone rosso accanto al letto per dare
l'allarme in caso d'assalto notturno da qualche malavitoso della
setta dei Mungiki.
Sono la mafia locale, dovrebbero essere
interessati al problema dei gas serra perché gestiscono
anche il racket dei matatu, dei pulmini rottamabili che
scorrazzano pieni di gente. Nel 2005 ci sono state più
persone morte di matatu che di malaria, ma quei trabiccoli che
fumano nero sono l'unico mezzo di trasporto popolare, sarebbe
forse difficile far capire a chi se ne serve il problema delle
emissioni di CO2. In compenso però anche i matatu hanno
dato il loro contributo al summit sul clima, hanno fatto viaggi
e viaggi di giovani prostitute andate a prelevare in Uganda e
Tanzania.
Avranno pensato che in occasione della Conferenza
ne sarebbero servite a vagonate per i delegati. Con un pulmino
meno disastrato pieno di connazionali si scende negli inferi
dello slum di Korogocho, nella zona est della città. Il
ministro Pecoraro Scanio per una mattina si è lasciato il
verde di Gigiri alle spalle ed è voluto andare a visitare
il luogo più infernale della città, lo segue
qualche giornalista e pochi coraggiosi. Gli altri seimila
ambientalisti preoccupati per il clima stanno aspettando Al Gore
che dovrebbe venire a parlare (in realtà era in
Australia), ma solo il ministro italiano ha voluto mettere il
naso in una delle baraccopoli dove vivono due terzi della
popolazione della città, 2 milioni e mezzo di esseri
umani che invidierebbero, in molti casi, persino i nostri
canili. A Korogocho però si produce un infernale
paradosso per chi professi fede ambientalista, la disperazione e
la povertà cosmica hanno spinto tremila persone ad
ingegnarsi nel più mortale esercizio di raccolta
differenziata.
Il convoglio ministeriale senza scorta, sirene
e lampeggianti scende lungo una strada di fango che fende il
secondo slum della città in ordine di grandezza. Ai
bordi, tra la folla dei più poveri, ben allineati su
banchi di fortuna si possono osservare i frutti di un'esemplare
cernita di materiali di scarto, da una parte i metalli,
dall'altra i componenti elettrici, la plastica, gli abiti o i
giocattoli.
Tutto proviene dalla discarica di Dandora che
inizia dove termina la strada. Oltre una palude e un fiume di
liquami e si vedono gli avvoltoi volare bassi, razzolano su una
collina di spazzatura fumante che si estende per un chilometro e
mezzo. Qui vivono e lavorano circa tremila persone: sono gli
“scavengers” (i cercatori), si bruciano i polmoni
per le esalazioni, hanno già tutte le malattie del mondo
e raccolgono, separano e impacchettano con mani e piedi infilati
tutto il giorno nel pattume. Con il sole a martello che si
alterna alla pioggia, il magma esala il suo fetore per
chilometri e chilometri, ma è la risorsa vitale per un
milione di persone.
Qui dal 90 ha abitato padre Alex
Zanotelli, mentre oggi a tenere l'avamposto dei Comboniani c'è
padre Daniele Moschetti, che viene da Varese. Assieme a sei
volontari cerca di fare quello che può con una scuola
piena di bambini strappati al lavoro della discarica. I libri di
testo sono le pareti, dove artisti improvvisati hanno illustrato
le lezioni di geometria, geografia, igiene, storia. Andiamo
nella baracca biblioteca, ci sono cinquemila volumi e il
pomeriggio è sempre piena. In uno scaffale vedo anche il
dorso de “La Sfida”, libro di Bruno Vespa di qualche
tempo fa. Forse un giorno, chissà come, finirà
anche quello tra gli stracci di Korogocho.
|
|
|
|
20
novembre 2006
|
THE
STANDARD,
Highest ranking African woman in the UN
system
19/11/06
She went to a village school in
western Tanzania and is now a tough economist, settlement
expert, peace-builder and women’s rights activist. UN
Nairobi office Director General and UN-Habitat Executive
Director Dr Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka spoke to Jane Godia on why
the Government must stop slum expansion and invest on affordable
and decent housing
May be fate played some role.
When I
made an appointment to see Dr Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, the
United Nations Director General at the United Nations Office in
Nairobi (Unon) who is also Executive Director UN-Habitat, the
Mathare clashes had not erupted.
But on the day I arrived at
her office at the UN headquarters in Gigiri, the clashes were at
their peak and she could only spare 30 minutes for an interview
as she was on her way to the expansive slum where several people
had been killed and hundreds displaced.
This was also the
time that her office was hosting almost 10,000 delegates for the
UN conference on climate change.
Tibaijuka’s petite
figure is deceptive and gives no hint of her voice, which is as
powerful as the statements she makes.
She was indeed an angry
woman at the time of our interview. Mothers and children had
been displaced and were sleeping in the cold after their homes
were set ablaze.
She could not hide her anger and spoke
passionately about the clashes and goings on in Mathare. She
made reference to the trouble, describing it as, "being
just a time bomb waiting to explode".
"The clashes
in Mathare are a clear manifestation of urban poverty and this
is a very big crisis that must be contained immediately,"
Tibaijuka said as she stressed that I must write about this for
the world to know.
With an attentive poise, Tibaijuka has
time to listen to the woes of children in Kibera when she went
on a fact finding mission in the slum.
"We must put our
act together. The people being affected by these clashes are law
abiding citizens but what is happening in Mathare at the moment
is a social crisis that must be attended to immediately,"
the director general emphasised.
"Growth of informal
settlements must be contained," she reiterated. "It is
from slum life and clashes, like what is happening in Mathare,
that social revolutions originate."
She expressed
disappointment at the fact that the human mind is too slow to
learn.
"Do you remember that Ferdinand Marcos, who was
the president of Philippines, was removed from power by a
people’s revolution?" she asked.
"It will
soon reach a stage where no one is safe," she said.
"If
the people of Mathare are not safe, if the people of Kibera are
not safe, then their neighbours in Muthaiga and Lavington are
not safe either," she added.
"Look at the case of
Kibera. More than 80 per cent of the people staying there are
tenants who are being charged exorbitant rents. These people are
being exploited. While real estate investors take 15-20 years to
recover their money, those who have invested in Kibera recover
their money within nine months," Tibaijuka said.
"The
landlords are making obscene profits. At the moment investing in
housing in Kibera is almost equivalent to mining."
What
then, needs to be done?
"The poor are being exploited
and the challenge lies in investing in affordable decent
housing," she advised.
With proper arrangements and
proper institutional mechanisms, this can be changed. There is
need for regulatory mechanisms — such as guarantees from
the system that if one puts up housing they will get their money
back.
"The Government needs to bring in the private
sector and assure those who build houses in such places that
they will get their money back," Tibaijuka
explained.
Tibaijuka is neither afraid nor ashamed to soil
her shoes in the mud of Kibera.
The Rent Regulation in Kenya
forbids people from charging rent on houses that do not have
sanitation. Unfortunately, this does not cater for unplanned
settlements. This explains why constructions in Kibera, Mathare
and other slums do not have basic facilities such as toilets and
water yet the tenants pay rent.
Tibaijuka has been trying to
negotiate with the Government to have this law extended to
unplanned settlements but so far nothing has been
forthcoming.
Tibaijuka draws my attention to a satellite
picture of Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, that hangs on
the wall of her office and then says: "This is a constant
reminder of the problems we have with informal settlements."
She
looks keenly at the picture and then asks: "What if all the
one million residents of Kibera decided to stage a
demonstration, would the Government be able to contain
them?"
UN-Habitat is charged with task of dealing with
all human settlement. However the fact that settlement crisis
tends to be more visible in urban areas makes many people think
that the organisation deals only with urban settlement.
For
Tibaijuka, the migration to urban areas is too often one of the
great irreversible forces and is likely to grow. Her challenge
in managing human settlements begins when the population in a
certain area increases but the basic human facilities continue
to lack.
"My mandate lies in balancing the settlement
and territorial improvement," Tibaijuka says. "The
challenge of living environment goes hand in hand with other
factors such as security and lack of basic social
amenities."
This mandate also involves slum upgrading
and slum prevention.
"We are working on a proactive
policy where if we plan better, we will not have the slums,"
she said.
She clearly remembers the case in Zimbabwe when
slum dwellers were evicted. She had to rush there to tell
Zimbabwean President Mr Robert Mugabe to stop. Mr Kofi Annan,
the United Nations Secretary General, had appointed her his
special envoy to study the scope of the Zimbabwean Government’s
evictions of informal traders and people deemed to be squatting
illegally.
"People in cities do not go back to rural
areas and hence the pressure piles up in towns," she
said.
That is why Tibaijuka is happy with the UN Secretary
General designate, Mr Ban Ki-moon from South Korea, who will be
taking over from Annan next year.
"I look forward to
working with Ki-moon because he comes from a country where slums
were removed five years ago," she said.
Tibaijuka, who
has been to virtually every country and capital city in the
world by virtue of her position as UN-Habitat chief executive,
said: "This is a guy who knows where he is coming from
because he is experienced. One cannot get elected to be a UN
secretary general if he or she does not have what it takes."
And
did she regret that a woman was not nominated for the post?
"Yes
and no," Tibaijuka replies and then explains the UN
system.
"The secretary general’s appointment is
usually done on rotational basis since the UN goes by tradition.
This time, it was Asia’s chance but unfortunately those
who campaigned to have a woman take over fielded many names but
none was from Asia."
"Those who are putting up
names must know how the game is played and the next region must
be asked to float a woman’s name," Tibaijuka
reiterated.
Would she vie for the position should the
opportunity present itself?
"It would be a great
opportunity but unfortunately the next time Africa will have the
chance will be in the year 2035," she said.
"By
then I might be lingering in an old people’s home if I
will still be alive."
Six years ago when she came to
Kenya, the headquarters of UN-Habitat, the settlement situation
all over the world was very bad. Then, Tibaijuka, who is a trade
expert, was working as special co-ordinator for Least Developed
Countries (LDCs), Landlocked and Small Island Developing
Countries with the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development Organisation (UNCTAD).
She was responsible for
strengthening the capacity of the LDCs in trade negotiations
within the World Trade Organisation. It was from there that
Annan asked her to come and work on improving the world’s
settlements.
She says it has not been easy. A trained
economist, Tibaijuka had to honour the appointment but still
bear in mind that it was a daunting task.
"I have been
forced to work like a missionary. I have to be careful and
diplomatic at the same time confront problems and put them in a
broader perspective," she said.
Tibaijuka has done a lot
of work at the UN-Habitat where, by virtue of her position, she
has had to participate in all high-level bodies in the UN
system. UN-Habitat’s main objective is improving the lives
of slum dwellers in line with the Millennium Development Goals.
Tibaijuka is responsible for leading the organisation to
achieving Target 11 of improving the lives of 100 million slum
dwellers by the year 2020.
"It is very difficult to stop
people from coming to the cities and the situation is made worse
by the fact that people who come to town never go back to the
rural areas," she explained.
Tibaijuka is currently the
highest-ranking African woman in the UN system and she is proud
of her achievements. For the 60 years that the UN system has
been in existence, no African woman has held such a high-ranking
position.
She also holds the highest position at the United
Nations Office in Nairobi as director general, which places her
at the UN under secretary level.
Within the UN system there
are only four headquarters: New York, Vienna, Geneva and
Nairobi. She reports directly to the UN Secretary-General on all
political, procedural and security-related matters.
As the
Secretary-General’s official representative, Tibaijuka
serves as a direct link between the UN, the Kenya Government and
the extensive diplomatic community in Nairobi, and as the host
of a wide variety of diplomatic gatherings and peace-building
initiatives that take place in the capital.
Unon has been
providing Unep, UN-Habitat and other key agencies with vital
administrative and technical support service since 1996. This
ensures an enabling environment for their programmes and
projects. It is done through the provision of the most efficient
use of personnel and resources in addition to handling much of
the time-consuming logistical details of their activities.
In
addition to assisting UN staff in their work, Unon provides them
with life-enhancing services, from personal security to
professional training, domestic relocations to contractual
privileges, travel arrangements to family medical support.
This
is why Tibaijuka does not hesitate to commend Annan for
nominating her to head the United Nations office in Nairobi.
It’s the UN General Assembly that elected her for the
office after receiving the nomination from Annan.
Born in
western Tanzania, Tibaijuka is proud of her village origins.
Most of all, she is grateful to her father for having offered
her an enabling environment to go to school.
"I come
from a conservative society where customs and tradition are
still held highly and I am very lucky to have gone to school
during my time," she says. "Actually I am a typical
village girl." However, Tibaijuka a strong advocate of
women’s rights, something that she has been doing even in
her country, says girls must be taken to school.
"It is
not only the process of facilitating passage of the process. I
went to good schools. Good Catholic schools. Schools must be
good and the system must work on quality education for girls,
which will expose them to face the world," she says.
Being
a widow and a mother of five children, one of whom is adopted,
Tibaijuka is credited with being the chairperson of independent
Tanzanian National Women’s Council (known by its Kiswahili
acronym, Bawata). She is also the founding chairperson of the
Barbro Johansson Girls’ Education Trust that is dedicated
to promoting high standards of education for girls not only in
Tanzania but also across Africa.
She is the convenor of
Tanzania Local Entrepreneurship Initiative, a voluntary group
mobilising and assisting Tanzanians to form joint venture
companies with overseas investors.
Tibaijuka speaks English,
Kiswahili, Haya, Swedish and some French. She has published five
books and several articles.
In 2003, she was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of Science for her work at Habitat by the
University College of London. The UN-Habitat executive director
is saddened by the fact that it is the African woman who bears
the brunt of HIV/Aids and poverty.
"The African woman
does so much yet her efforts are not recognised. She cannot get
out of poverty without economic empowerment, without land,
assets and education," she said.
"First and
foremost the African woman’s contribution to the economy
must be recognised," she added.
While applauding Annan
for having championed creating awareness on HIV/Aids and brought
it to the development agenda, Tibaijuka said the disease would
not have been a scourge if it had been given the attention it
deserved right from the beginning.
"The world lost time
when Aids was discovered and it has never been able to catch up.
It is the promiscuous culture that has contributed greatly to
helping spread the disease and contributing to women becoming
its major victims," she adds.
Prior to her work at
UN-Habitat, Tibaijuka was an associate Professor of Economics at
the University of Dar-es-Salaam. During this time she was also a
member of the Tanzania Government delegation to several United
Nations summits.
What are her plans upon retirement?
"
I will not just be sitting. I will be working with the community
back in my village to see how we can improve standards of
living," she says with a smile.
|
|
|
|
17
novembre 2006
|
WWW.ANSA.IT
[http://www.ansa.it/opencms/export/site/visualizza_fdg.html_2027977257.html]
CLIMA:
L'ITALIA AIUTERA' LA BARACCOPOLI PIU' POVERA AL MONDO
NAIROBI
- L' Italia parteciperà al tentativo di ricostruzione
ambientale e umanitaria di una delle più incredibili
bidonville del mondo, quella di Korogocho a Nairobi (Kenia),
dove un milione di persone vive intorno alla piu grande
discarica del pianeta, 125 ettari di spazzatura, una montagna
alta 30 metri, nella quale chi tentasse di camminarvi sopra vi
scivolerebbe dentro, affondando fino a restarne inghiottito,
come nei peggiori film dell'horror.
Il ministro dell'ambiente
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio oggi, nello ambito della conferenza
mondiale sul clima in corso a Nairobi, ha firmato un accordo di
cooperazione fra Italia e Kenia in materia ambientale, e fra gli
interventi da realizzare ha previsto anche progetti in favore
dello slum di Korogocho, coinvolgendo la popolazione e i padri
comboniani che vivono con loro. Italia punta a realizzare forme
di energia rinnovabile per una popolazione che, fra le altre
disgrazie, ha anche quella di vivere senza energia elettrica.
Dopo la firma dell'accordo, Pecoraro si e recato a Korogocho
per incontrare un pezzetto di Italia che qui fa onore al nostro
Paese, perche con pochi mezzi fa grandi cose, e in nome della
fede cattolica soprattutto condivide le terribili condizioni di
vita e fa compagnia a questa povera gente, prendendosi cura
specialmente dei bambini. Pecoraro ha conosciuto il padre
comboniano Daniele Moschetti, varesino, erede di padre Alex
Zanotelli, che con altri sei fra preti e laici governa quella
che si può considerare un oasi di pace e amicizia in
questo luogo dove la sacralità della dignità umana
sembra smarrita e dove risulta davvero arduo pronunciare parole
come speranza e futuro . In mezzo al fango, e senza nessun
conforto materiale degno di questo nome, a Korogocho vivono
uomini, donne e bambini che sembrano cancellati dall'anagrafe
del mondo quale noi conosciamo.
Sono poveri del kenia, ma
anche di altri paesi vicini, che lasciano i loro villaggi,
fuggono da una fame antica, e si mettono in viaggio in cerca di
fortuna a Nairobi, dove invece trovano una fame moderna, non più
rurale, ma urbana. In citta la vita è cara, non c'é
posto né lavoro per tutti, così in migliaia,
bussano agli slums. Quello di Korogocho è il più
grande, ma altri ne esistono alla periferia di questa citta ,
come ad esempio nella zona di Huruna dove operano le suore di
madre Teresa di Calcutta. Il paradosso, racconta padre
Moschetti, e che, senza saperlo, i poveri finiscono per
alimentare quel perverso circuito su cui si sostiene la malavita
locale. Per potersi ritagliare uno spazio nelle baraccopoli,
infatti, questi poveri spesso pagano un affitto al propietario
della terra, un deputato che ha pure un importante incarico
pubblico, e governa questo territorio servendosi di una specie
di piccolo esercito personale, che taglieggia e controlla pure
chi fruga nell'immondizia alla ricerca di qualcosa da mangiare o
da rivendere. Una ecomafia alla keniana, ha commentato Pecoraro.
Qui sembra non esservi nulla di umano a prima vista, salvo
poi restare senza parole di fronte all'allegria e al sorriso dei
bambini che giocano felici e inconsapevoli; dal fango della
vita, emerge la ostinata intraprendenza degli scavangers, gli
scavatori, circa 4.000 disgraziati, quasi tutti ex alcolisti,
che trascorrono la giornata immersi nei rifiuti e nel maleodore
alla ricerca di qualcosa di riciclabile, di smontabile, di
riutilizzabile, da mettere in vendita su improbabili bancarelle
di cartone sulla via principale. Pecoraro ha sottolineato che a
Korogocho c'é l'altra faccia della conferenza mondiale
sul clima, dove delegati, esperti, ambientalisti e i
rappresentanti di 189 paesi discutono da giorni sui metodi
migliori per fermare il surriscaldamento del pianeta dal quale
dipendono i sempre più frequenti eventi climatici estremi
e altri fenomeni quali i ghiacciai che si sciolgono, la
tropicalizzazione dei mari e cosi via.
Il ministro italiano è
l'unico fra i governanti di mezzo mondo presenti in questi
giorni a Nairobi ad ad aver chiesto di visitare questo luogo
malfamato, dove la miseria dell'uomo e la devastazione
dell'ambiente paiono coniugati da una mano diabolica. In questo
immenso slum la miseria nera, il degrado, la ignoranza e anche
la paura trasformano le persone, rendendole aggressive e quindi
pericolose. Furti rapine accoltellamenti sono frequentissimi in
queste strade, anche per un bottino di pochi dollari, perciò
non èsaggio avventurarsi fra queste baracche, dove la
compagnia di padre Moschetti è un lasciapassare sicuro.
Pecoraro ha visitato la missione dei comboniani, dove ci sono
scuola, biblioteca, centro medico, chiesetta, perfino un campo
sportivo e un 'teatro' all'aperto, che sorge ai margini di
questa spaventosa e puzzolente marea di rifiuti, dalla quale si
levano fumi maleodoranti e nocivi. "Curiamo migliaia di
casi di malattie respiratorie, i tumori ai polmoni sono tanti",
dice padre Moschetti.
|
|
|
|
15
novembre 2006
|
International
Alliance of Inhabitants [www.habitants.org]
Cancelling
debt to house the poor: The experiment is now possible in
Nairobi
On October 27, 2006, the agreement cancelling the
bilateral debt owed to Italy by Kenya was signed, thus freeing
resources that are meant to go to programs concerned with
reducing urban and rural poverty. Rather than pay the debt,
Kenya will invest 44 million Euros into its public policy,
starting now and until 2016.
The representatives of the W
Nairobi W! Campaign, which is tied to the Zero Evictions
Campaign run by the International Alliance of Inhabitants, are
greatly satisfied that they have achieved a solid goal that
offers a real alternative to the inhabitants of Nairobi’s
slums who are being threatened with eviction.
Now it is time
to enter the action phase, all the while ensuring that the funds
are use appropriately and on the basis of social participation.
A “People’s Fund for Land and Housing” will
need to be established in collaboration with the inhabitants and
through decentralized cooperation.
This innovative example of
people joining forces in solidarity shows that it is possible to
transform two issues that weaken society, the threat of
evictions and foreign debt, into a strong boomerang that
supports social policies on housing.
During the World Social
Forum 2007, the International Alliance of Inhabitants will
discuss the idea of a global mobilization process that is so
essential in order to cancel debt and to guarantee housing for
the world’s poor; all allies, whether they are members of
social movements, NGOs, local authorities offering support, or
progressive governments who will want to share in these
proposals, are welcome to participate in the discussion.
The
figures: the foreign debt currently stands at 2.597 thousand
million USD, of which 523 million are owed by the poorest
countries; in order to improve the housing conditions of 100
million slum dwellers, an aim which is echoed in Millennium
Development Goal 7-11, $ 92.4 billion US is needed (barely 3.5 %
of the debt); however, $924 billion US, or 35 % of the total
debt, is needed to provide housing for a billion homeless and
those living in substandard dwellings.
Is this possible? At
this time, yes: let’s therefore try it out in Nairobi’s
slums.
|
|
|
|
13
novembre 2006
|
AGENZIA
FIDES
09/11/2006
AFRICA/KENYA - “Così non
si può andare avanti: occorrono misure severe per
risolvere il problema degli slums” dice un missionario da
Nairobi, dove migliaia di persone sono in fuga a causa degli
scontri nello slum di Mathare
Nairobi
(Agenzia Fides)- “La situazione è molto tesa,
migliaia e migliaia di persone continuano a fuggire dalle loro
povere baracche a causa degli scontri. Anche un nostro
collaboratore si è rifugiato qui da noi portando la sua
famiglia” dice all’Agenzia Fides p. Eugenio Ferrari,
Direttore Nazionale delle Pontificie Opere Missionarie del
Kenya, riferendo delle violenze nello slum di Mathare, uno dei
più antichi di Nairobi (sugli slum di Nairobi vedi Fides
29 luglio 2003 e 13 settembre 2006).
Gli scontri, scoppiati 5
giorni fa, hanno provocato la morte di almeno 8 persone. “Sono
due gang che si contendono il controllo del territorio ad aver
provocato la violenza” dice p. Ferrari. “I due
gruppi, chiamati “Mungiki” e “Taliban”,
sono formati da persone di due diverse etnie. Si riproducono
così nel contesto urbano quelle divisioni tribali ed
etniche che caratterizzano le campagne africane”.
La
polizia è intervenuta in forze per fermare gli scontri ma
fatica a riportare la calma. “La struttura degli slum, un
labirinto di vicoli e strade strettissime non aiuta certo le
forze di polizia” afferma il missionario che si dice
comunque favorevole a interventi anche drastici per risolvere il
problema. “La configurazione degli slum va cambiata
radicalmente: bisogna costruire strade ampie e infrastrutture,
come fogne e condutture per l’acqua potabile. Bisogna
prendere decisioni anche dolorose, come spostare le baracche
della povera gente, in vista però di un futuro migliore
per gli abitanti di questi quartieri. Così non si può
più andare avanti”.
È chiaro comunque”
prosegue p. Ferrari “che il problema degli slum non si
risolve dalla sera alla mattina. Occorrono anni per costruire
nuove infrastrutture e abitazioni degne di questo nome. Le
autorità keniane hanno avviato alcuni progetti di
riqualificazione delle aree urbane e il governo centrale ha
raggiunto un accordo con la Cina per la costruzione di nuove
abitazioni. Non dimentichiamo poi che c’è tutta una
mentalità da cambiare, anche in occidente, che vede
l’Africa come una gigantesca pattumiera, al punto che in
Kenya è stata appena approvata una legge che vieta
l’importazione e la vendita di indumenti intimi
usati”.
Secondo fonti della polizia locale, gli scontri
a Mathare sono iniziati quando la gang Mungiki ha iniziato ad
estorcere denaro ad alcuni fabbricanti di birra illegali del
quartiere. Questi si sono rivolti alla gang rivale, i “Taliban”
per chiedere protezione e i due gruppi si sono scontrati. La
violenza è presto dilagata in tutto lo slum, costringendo
migliaia di persone alla fuga. Si sono create code interminabili
di uomini, donne e bambini, con le loro povere masserizie, che
si dirigevano nella vicina base aerea di Moi.
“Mungiki”
in realtà non è solo una gang di teppisti, ma una
vera e propria setta che si richiama ai “valori
tradizionali africani”. Formata negli anni ’80 del
secolo scorso, la setta “Mungiki” (“moltitudine”)
è stata messa fuori legge dalle autorità locali,
perché coinvolta in estorsioni e violenze. Già nel
2003, la Chiesa cattolica aveva lanciato l’allarme sul
rischio per l’ordine pubblico rappresentato dalla sette,
dopo che alcuni suoi membri avevano ucciso 23 persone in un
altro slum della capitale. Secondo alcuni commentatori, la setta
si ispira al modello della ribellione Mau Mau degli anni ’50
contro il potere coloniale inglese, ed è molto attiva
soprattutto nei quartieri più degradati della capitale
keniana. (L.M.)
|
|
|
|
12
novembre 2006
|
THE
STANDARD
Kibera gets community radio
station
11/12/2006
By Standard Reporter
A
community radio station has started broadcasting from the heart
of the Kibera slums.
Pamoja FM, which has already been
licensed by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK, will
broadcast on 99.9MHZ frequency. The station is headed by Wachira
Kioi and Abdalla Beki.
In a letter signed by Mr S K Kibe
dated November 9, CCK cautions Pamoja Development Centre to keep
within stipulated parameters.
"This is to inform you
that the FM sound broadcasting frequency assigned to you for use
in Kibera, Nairobi is 99.9 MHZ. The associated technical
parameters and conditions of the said frequency remain the same
as stipulated in our earlier letter," Kibe said.
Kioi
said the station would give residents of Africa’s largest
slum a chance to interact. They would be able to share their
problems, feelings and educate them on HIV/Aids issues.
The
licensing of the station follows another, which broadcasts in
Kariobangi.
|
|
|
|
12
novembre 2006
|
THE
STANDARD
Slums under thumb of vigilantes
11/12/2006
By
Standard Team
The recent skirmishes in Nairobi’s
Mathare slums have provided a keyhole look into how different
illegal gangs have held captive slum residents, controlling
businesses and disciplining those who go against the
grain.
Gangs are rife in almost all informal settlements in
the city apart from Kibera. Police say Kibera is exceptional
because of the composition of the dwellers. Most of them are
Luos and Nubians who frown at crime and violence.
"For
them, you have to learn to earn justly and many think that crime
does not pay."
Yet it is the biggest of the slums in the
country, which naturally should mean a multiplied dimension in
the problems.
The gangs control the slum areas as if it is a
separate government in operation.
"They operate like
they are in a vacuum… they are a State within the bigger
Kenya with the gangs taking care of security water provision and
electricity and taxing the inhabitants for services
rendered."
Some locals confess that initially, the
intentions of forming the vigilante groups were noble. With time
they metamorphosed into the monsters that they are now.
"They
came up for good intentions, but later turn out to be terrorist
groups. We blame all these on police who hardly come here,"
said one resident.
"The Government’s failure to
provide enough security and good housing and lighting and the
City Council’s inability to provide essential services,
like garbage collection and water is also to blame… in
the absence of all these, we fall prey to the gangs."They
illegally tap water, and electricity and supply it to the
residents at a fee.
In some instances, locals form vigilante
groups to deal with small time crimes like mugging and petty
theft that is the most disturbing in the areas.
The most
notorious and feared areas are Korogocho, Mukuru, Mathare and
Kiambiu slums where the influence of the groups is immense.
So
feared are the gangs that even police do not patrol in the
areas. Even whenever visitors like reporters want to venture
into the areas, they seek police escort.
And before one
visits the areas, leaders of the gangs have to be notified of
the intended trip.
The gangs have penetrated every corner of
the slums where they unleash terror and extort protection fees
from all manner of traders: landlords, tenants, building
contractors, matatu owners and crews, vegetable and fruit
hawkers.
"People who resist or do not pay up are
punished severely. It is a terrible practice which is hard to
end," said George Kamau, a resident of Korogocho
slums.
Police cite poor infrastructure as the main hinderance
in their efforts to provide services to the affected areas and
put the gangs to rout.
Once during a patrol in Mathare slums,
Nairobi PPO, Mr Kingori Mwangi, confessed that policing such
areas was a difficult task given the poor infrastructure
there.
"These places are hard to patrol because of the
poor infrastructure… it is a hard task, which will be
addressed if and when there are good roads here," he
said.
He said sometimes, the gangs pour human waste on the
alleys in the slums to prevent police from raiding their
hideouts.
It is in the slums that all forms of crimes are
found. Gun-trading, is the main form of crime that transpires in
the areas apart from it being the main hub of the criminals.
In
fact, whenever a crime is committed in the city, suspect dash to
the slums to hide because they know police hardly go there.
In
an incident in 2004, a gang waylaid police who were patrolling
near Mukuru slums and killed two on the spot. A hunt that was
led by the then new Commissioner of Police Maj-Gen Hussein Ali
did not bear any fruits.
Police are aware of these gangs and
sometimes use the vigilante groups that have been formed there
to penetrate the areas.
This is despite the fact that the
groups were banned in 2001 by the then Commissioner of Police,
Mr Philemon Abongo.
Different gangs control different places,
but when one follows their roots, you find out that the levy
collected from the dwellers end up in the pockets of one big
group who live in luxury.
Mungiki is the most notorious with
bases in Huruma, Mathare, Mukuru, Dandora, Kariobangi , Kayole
and Korogocho, the headquarters. The proscribed sect has
subdivided itself into different groups and given out names to
carry out its operations.
It was the growing competition from
Taliban that sent the Mungiki into panic giving rise to the turf
wars like the one last week.
The Taliban was formed as a
vigilante group towards the end of 2001 to protect residents and
their property. Its members were and are still drawn from
various communities. But it is suspected that criminals have
hijacked its activities.
The differences between the two
gangs in the slums came out when they clashed in Mathare that
has led to the death of seven people so far and displace several
others.
And as they fight to retain or expand their turf,
both gangs have alleged links to the police.
Residents of
various slums we visited accused the police of receiving bribes
from both gangs, an issue Kingori said they are
investigating.
"Those are claims, which no one can
substantiate until investigations are carried out. These slums
are a problem for all of us," he said.
|
|
|
|
12
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Give hope to slum
dwellers
EDITORIALS
11/12/2006
The sign-posts
of the breakdown of law and order – for weeks beamed by
smouldering huts in Molo, Kuresoi and Mount Elgon –
finally exploded in Mathare slums early this week.
Perhaps
due to its close proximity to the City, and the viciousness of
the blood-letting, the Mathare violence finally jolted a largely
indifferent police force to turn attention.
Their
intervention, as most Kenyans might attest, is temporary. The
reasons for this scepticism are illustrated elsewhere in this
newspaper. Police, in clear dereliction of duty, have allowed
the thugs to rule.
From the comprehensive reports we have
published today, there is incontrovertible evidence that
criminals, unbridled in their greed for money as they are in
their thirst for innocent blood, have terrorised Kenyans into
submission.
On our roads, armed gangs are extorting money
from matatu operators as though they are Government.
Slum-dwellers and businessmen in those localities are charged
protection "fees" to operate.
So entrenched are
these cartels, they even provide power lines (with monthly bills
paid to them) to residents, while kangaroo courts routinely
decide disputes in those locations.
With the country's
elaborate intelligence network, it would be hard to believe that
this has been going on without the knowledge of the Police Force
or the provincial administration.
Respondents quoted in the
Sunday Nation reveal that the police are as much a problem as
are the criminals. It is claimed they tip the criminals when
trouble is afoot or, chillingly, point out those who informed on
them.
The mayhem witnessed this week is not unique to
Mathare. The gangs riding roughshod over the hapless
slum-dwellers are replicated elsewhere, albeit on a smaller
scale.
The notorious Mungiki and criminal Taliban gangs, who
are the main antagonists contesting the control of Mathare, have
their equivalents in other parts of the country.
Bar their
thirst for money, they are youths with minimal prospects in
life.
Simply put, this is not a problem that will be solved
through the deployment of a few policemen to patrol the slums
for a few days. It calls for a thorough reflection on the part
of our leaders to give fresh meaning to the lives of
slum-dwellers.
While it might help if loud-mouthed
politicians stopped fanning the violence, and the policemen and
chiefs implicated in the Mathare attacks were moved out of the
area immediately, rooting out these criminals will require a
multi-pronged approach.
|
|
|
|
12
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
States within a state: How organised
gangs rule city estates
Story by DOMINIC
WABALA
Publication Date: 11/12/2006
Extortionist gangs
similar to the dreaded Sicilian Mafia have taken over some
Nairobi residential areas, controlling businesses and meting out
instant "justice" on anybody who resists.
Their
influence is especially manifest in the Eastlands area, where
they unleash terror and extort protection fees from traders,
landlords, tenants, building contractors, matatu owners,
vegetable and fruit hawkers – practically anyone in a
money-making venture.
Nairobi PC James Waweru addressing
Mathare residents who have been affected by the violence that
left several people dead.Photo by Joseph Mathenge
People who
resist or do not pay up are "punished" for
disobedience, and anyone who reveals the gangs' activities to
police risks being killed as a warning to others.
To keep
police at bay, the gangs organise vigilante groups who prevent
petty crimes, thus eliminating the need for frequent police
patrols.
But they do not confine their activities to
Eastlands. They are now moving into the city centre. The Sunday
Nation has established that the recent skirmishes between police
and council guards on the one hand and street hawkers on the
other were engineered by the gangs.
The gangs extort money
from hawkers in protection fee – they promise to take on
the security agents and the guards whenever they attempt to
remove the traders from the central business district.
The
gangs have permeated every matatu route and every aspect of life
in the sprawling Mathare slum, one of the oldest in the city.
Their operation zones have become too dangerous for police foot
patrols. In fact, parts of the city have become no-go zones for
police. The gangs have grown from the vigilante groups
residential areas set up to fill the gap caused by the
Government's failure to provide enough security and the city
council's inability to provide essential services, including
garbage collection and security.
With impressive weapons,
the gangs have their own system of "snitches"
(informers), including police officers, who warn them of
impending action against them. They also have an elaborate
"disciplinary" system to deal with wavering or weak
members.
In Huruma there are two gangs – Geri ya Urush
(the Huruma gang) and Geri ya Ngei (Huruma Ngei gang), while
Kariobangi is under Geri ya Bangla (Bangla gang). But they have
to contend with the Thingira and Kambi Moto gangs which are said
to be allied to Mungiki.
Other gangs operating in Eastlands
include the Jobless Corner base, War is War in Ofafa Jericho,
Trench Town of Jericho Lumumba, Ofafa Jericho's Bamboo Base and
Otogo Base of Jerusalem.
At Kongo-Soweto, one of Nairobi's
newer slums, each neighbourhood also has its own vigilante
group. At Pangani and Ngara West, vigilante groups gather every
evening to patrol the area and prevent burglaries and muggings
believed to be on the rise due to the area's proximity to the
Mathare Valley slums.
But all these gangs pale before the
two major ones – Taliban and Mungiki – who have
taken over organised crime in the city and are responsible for
some of the current chaos.
Mungiki emerged as a splinter
group of the Tent of the Living God, a sect founded in Laikipia
district in 1987 by Mr Ngonya wa Gakonya who died a fortnight
ago.
The sect drew upon Gikuyu traditional values in
response to the growing materialism exhibited by the many
evangelical Christian churches that emerged in Central province
from the 1980s.
The Taliban was formed as a vigilante group
towards the end of 2001. Led by David Peter Ochieng', popularly
known as Nyam Nyam, the aim of the group was to protect
residents and their property.
Nyam Nyam and his supporters,
who number about 250, draw membership from residents of
Kariobangi. They carry out patrols with the full knowledge of
the local police. However, some residents are intimidated by the
gang's extortion of money in the name of providing security.
But
during confrontations with or attacks by Mungiki for control of
the estate, the Taliban turn on the residents and force them to
fight alongside them. This is what happened during the rent
riots that rocked the area in 2003. The Taliban forced some
residents of Kisumu Ndogo and Nyayo estates to come out and
fight Mungiki gangsters who had been ferried by bus into the
area. More than 20 people, most of them non-Taliban, were
killed.
Even as they fight to retain or expand their turf,
both gangs are committed to ensuring that they pay their dues to
police. The residents accuse officers from the nearby Kariobangi
police post of receiving bribes from both gangs.
The gangs'
tentacles extend beyond manning matatu routes and extorting
money from the crews and owners. They have expanded their "tax"
base to include developers putting up residential houses, office
blocks or any other building in areas such as Kariobangi,
Dandora, Huruma, and Zimmerman.
For anyone putting up a
residential house, the gangs demand and usually get the
developer to surrender a room to them for which they collect the
rent. They are also paid an "access" fee for the
delivery of building materials.
|
|
|
|
12
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
The tenants and landlords killed dream of
decent houses
Story by GAKIHA WERU
Publication Date:
11/12/2006
It is a facade of glamour and colour. The
brown hue of rotting roofs appears picturesque; the tiny blocks
seem like configurations of architectural genius. But this
illusion is dispelled the moment you set foot in the slum. The
sense of gloom and doom that confronts many residents is
overwhelming.
This is what the Kenyan and German governments,
with the help of the Catholic Church, set out to improve with a
new housing project in 1992.
It started with great promise
and enough financial backing. The German government donated
Sh420 million.
In seven phases
Archbishop Ndingi mwana
a'Nzeki of the Nairobi Catholic diocese says the project was to
be implemented in seven phases, and that the initial target was
housing for 25,000 people.
A unit was to consist of three
self-contained rooms, a toilet and a store. Other amenities were
to include roads, sewers, storm water drainage, showers, washing
areas, medical facilities and schools.
But the project
stalled five years ago when tenants refused to pay the Sh400
monthly rent set by the sponsors, and plot owners resisted
attempts to demolish the houses.
"It was an ambitious
project which would have changed the lives of residents of
Mathare," Archbishop Ndingi says.
"Where else
would one get such accommodation at the cost of only Sh400 a
month?"
The standoff snowballed into violent
confrontations as the residents turned upon people hired to work
on the project.
Human rights activist Kang'ethe Mungai, who
was involved in efforts to reconcile the groups, says the
situation was complicated when plot owners and landlords
enlisted the help of Mungiki.
"This is how Mungiki
gained a foothold in the area," says Mr Mungai.
Today,
tenants and landlords alike live at the mercy of the gang.
Landlords pay protection money to ensure that tenants are
allowed to occupy their houses. Tenants, on the other hand, pay
for their security.
In yet another twist, the Talibans came
into the picture. It also happened that the majority of the
tenants were from Nyanza while the Mungiki members are mainly
from Central Kenya.
"When the Mungiki placed the area
under their control, there was resentment by the Talibans, who
felt that since most residents were from their communities, they
should be collecting the protection money.
"The
Mungiki, on the other hand, argued that the structures were
owned by members of their communities, and they had the sole
right to operate in the area. The simmering resentment was bound
to explode into the violence we are witnessing now, " says
a resident.
|
|
|
|
11
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Two groups not the only ones ruling city
estates
Story by DOMINIC WABALA
Publication Date:
11/11/2006
Mungiki and the Taliban have featured
prominently in the Mathare violence. Initial reports said the
blood-letting started as a fight between the two groups over the
collection of protection money. Although the reports suggested
that there are two criminal gangs battling for control of the
city, there are other groups operating independently.
The
gangs have taken over the city's overcrowded and poorly policed
slums and other low-cost housing estates, especially in
Eastlands, unleashing terror and extorting money from the
residents, business people, landlords, building contractors,
matatu owners and illicit brewers.
People who resist are
beaten or even killed.
With the rampant crime and in the
absence of police presence, the gangs also run illegal vigilante
groups that make sure petty criminals keep off their areas of
operation. In return, they extort hefty protection fees.
There
are various gangs. At Huruma, there are the Geri ya Urush (the
Huruma Gang) and Geri ya Ngei, while Kariobangi is ruled by Geri
ya Bangla. There several more.
Bamboo Base rules Ofafa
In
Jericho Lumumba, there are the Jobless Corner Base and the War
is War, while the Bamboo Base rules Ofafa Jericho and Otogo Base
Jerusalem.
The Kariobangi residents claim that Mungiki
members are well known, but police have not made any effort to
arrest them.
They accuse officers at the local police post
of being compromised by the sect and the Taliban.
Extortion
and the demand for protection money and other "fees"
for various services are well established in the crowded
estates.
Households at Mlango Kubwa of Eastleigh, Mathare,
Huruma, Huruma Ngei, Kariobangi, Dandora, Baba Dogo and other
estates have to pay between Sh30 and Sh50 each
month.
Shopkeepers part with Sh250 a month, kiosk owners and
vegetable vendors pay Sh100, while bar owners are charged
Sh150.
Vehicles that deliver vegetables to the Korogocho and
Kariobangi markets pay Sh400 per delivery.
The gangs collect
Sh200 per day form each 14-seater matatu and Sh250 from the
25-seater minibuses.
Matatu crews also pay a fee to be
allowed to operate, with drivers parting with Sh1,000 in entry
fee, and conductors Sh400.
The control of the "transport
levy" has brought Mungiki and other gangs into constant
bloody confrontations.
Control of matatu routes
Not
content with controlling the matatu routes and charging the
protection fee, the groups have expanded operations into many
other areas.
At Kariobangi, Dandora, Huruma, Zimmerman and
Kayole, they force owners of apartment blocks to surrender a
room each, for which they collect a monthly rent.
Trucks
which deliver sand, ballast, cement, stones and other building
material at sites in Eastlands also pay a fee.
Workers such
as masons, electricians and casual labourers at the construction
sites have to pay an "access fee" to be allowed into
the yards.
The gangs also run illegal water collection
points where they charge between Sh10 and Sh20 for a 20-litre
jerrican of water tapped from city council pipes.
They have
taken over council toilets and established public bathrooms for
which they charge a fee.
The recent violence between hawkers
and council guards, backed by police, was attributed to criminal
gangs masquerading as traders.
|
|
|
|
10
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Report doubts State figures on
water
Publication Date: 11/10/2006
A UN report has
disputed Government statistics on access to clean water and
sanitation by focusing on the squalor in Nairobi's Kibera
slums.
The just released Human Development Report says
although the Government's report on the Millennium Development
Goals indicates 93 per cent Nairobi residents have access to
clean water and sanitation "those numbers are hard to
square with life in Kibera."
The report acknowledges
Kibera as the largest slum area in sub-Saharan Africa with a
population of upto a million.
"Simple observation of
Kibera's streets raises questions about data reporting. High
population density, overcrowding and lack of infrastructure have
created a water and sanitation nightmare," the report
says.
It adds that drainage channels on the roadsides are
often blocked, pit latrines overflow during rainy seasons while
children scavenge in heaps of uncollected garbage.
It says
that although data collection may be unreliable, 40 per cent of
households have access to legal water connections but only a
third of them receive water once every two days.
It states
that 80 per cent of households purchase all or some of their
water from private water vendors whose prices average $3.50
(Sh250) per cubic metre but rise to almost double during dry
seasons.
"The average price is some seven times higher
than that paid by people in high-income settlements served by
the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company – and higher than
prices in London or New York," the report says.
|
|
|
|
10
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Kibaki meets police chief over slum
crisis
Story by STEPHEN MUIRURI
Publication Date:
11/10/2006
President Kibaki yesterday summoned police
commissioner Hussein Ali over the mounting insecurity in parts
of the country.
There was no official statement from the
Presidential Press Service on details of the meeting. However,
sources at State House and officers close to Maj-Gen Ali said
the violence in Mathare and Kuresoi in Rift Valley were among
the issues discussed by the President and the police
boss.
Meanwhile, 32 people were charged in a Kibera court
over the violence that has claimed eight lives in the Mathare
Valley slums, as calm slowly returned to the area amid heavy
police presence.
The one-hour meeting ended around 12.30pm,
with Maj-Gen Ali's official vehicle leaving State House through
the main gate followed by a chase car.
Those charged in the
Kibera court were arrested over the skirmishes pitting two
notorious gangs against each other.
The suspects, who
appeared before acting chief magistrate Catherine Mwangi, were
also charged with being members of unlawful societies (see
separate story).
The State House meeting took place an hour
before Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta and secretary-general
William Ruto addressed the Press conference at Parliament
Buildings, Nairobi, and urged President Kibaki to take charge of
the rising insecurity crisis.
Some of the suspected Mungiki
sect members arrive at Kibera courts where they were charged
with preparation to commit murder in Mathare slums,
Nairobi.Photo/Franklin Okutoyi
The two said the President
seemed not to be in control of the country, which was being
threatened by "ethnic insecurity". Instead, he had
"taken a lax attitude" and left the matter to the
Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki and Maj-Gen Ali, who
were squabbling and could not work together for the good of the
country.
However, there was relative calm in the sprawling
Mathare slums yesterday, an indication that the security
measures, including the heavy deployment of the paramilitary
General Service Unit and regular police, were having effect.
Members of the Mungiki sect and the so-called Taliban, have
been at the centre of the slum clashes, with reports of victims
being hacked by gangsters or beaten to death by mobs.
At
least 40 people have been killed in Mathare, Kuresoi, Molo,
Laikipia and Mt Elgon in the past two months.
In Parliament
yesterday, the Speaker, Mr Francis ole Kaparo, ordered Minister
Michuki to issue a ministerial statement on the insecurity in
Mathare and other parts of the country next Tuesday.(See story
on Page 29).
The Speaker said the matter was urgent and
could not wait until next Thursday, as proposed by assistant
Internal Security minister Joseph Kingi.
The order was the
second this week. On Wednesday, the Speaker had directed Mr
Kingi to issue the statement yesterday after Ndhiwa MP Joshua
Ojodeh had asked for it.
In a related development, it emerged
yesterday that the demonstration held in Nairobi on Wednesday to
condemn the Mathare killings and during which some youths
demanded the release of Mungiki leader Maina Njenga had not been
authorised by the police.
Police had told the organisers that
the meeting should not be held, but the youths defied them.
They
then converged on Uhuru Park and marched along major city
streets for more than an hour without police intervention.
Under
the 1997 Inter-Party Parliamentary Group meeting (IPPG),
organisers of public meetings or processions are only required
to notify the officer in charge of the respective police station
of their intention to meet. This should be done at least three
days before the event.
The officer can turn down a request on
security grounds or if another group had earlier booked the same
venue.
Investigations by the Nation revealed that organisers
of Wednesday's demonstration did not have the IPPG notification
or the permit to allow them stage the procession.
Councillor
Geoffrey Gitau of Nairobi's Central Ward and former Koma Rock
councillor Julius Kamau, were the organisers.
They presented
to Central OCS a letter dated November 4, seeking to be allowed
to hold a demonstration to protest the gun attack on Mr
Michuki's home.
The two-paragraph letter read: "I hearby
wish to notify you that we will be holding a peaceful
demonstration in the city centre condemning the attack by armed
gangsters at Hon Michuki's home."
"It will be held
on Wednesday, 8 November 2006."
It was signed by
councillors Gitau and Kamau. Both had indicated their cellphone
and fixed lines telephones.
Mr Gitau and Mr Kamau said
yesterday that the demonstration was peaceful and successful.
And they denied that members of the outlawed Mungiki sect took
part in it.
But from TV clips, it was evident that the
demonstration was turned into a demand for the release of
Mungiki leader Njenga.
There was also a call for Maj
Gen-Ali's resignation of over insecurity, including what the
demonstrators termed "an attempt by some elements in the
police force to kill Mr Michuki."
The protesters
disrupted traffic on Uhuru Highway, Taifa Road and outside
Parliament Buildings where they briefly stopped to air their
grievances. They then proceeded to Uhuru Highway before receding
to the Mathare slums.
|
|
|
|
9
novembre 2006
|
THE
STANDARD
MPs condemn march by outlawed
sect
Headlines
11/09/2006
Riot police lead away
suspects who were arrested in the heart of Mathare on Wednesday
as police intensified an operation to flash out trouble makers
in the crowded slum that has been rocked by violence. Picture by
Martin Mukangu
Questions were being asked as to whether there
is an unseen hand directing the violence in Mathare slums, which
has claimed seven lives since it began on Sunday.
This
happened as several hundred marchers, believed to belong to the
outlawed Mungiki sect, took over Nairobi’s streets
Wednesday morning demanding the sacking of Police Commissioner
Maj-Gen Hussein Mohamed Ali.
And politicians reacted
furiously to the Mungiki march, which started at Uhuru Park and
ended in Mathare.
The politicians wondered why the youths,
associated with a group blamed for the Mathare deaths, could be
allowed to assemble and march through the town.
At the same
time, Ali announced a major crackdown on Mungiki adherents, and
cancelled all public meetings in Nairobi. This includes one
called by Mr Ndura Waruinge in Kibera this weekend.
Nine MPs,
who quickly grouped at Parliament Buildings following the demo,
accused the Government of abetting the killings by failing to
contain the skirmishes.
They were Mr Otieno Kajwang’
(Mbita), Mr Peter Odoyo (Nyakach), Mr William Omondi (Kasarani),
Prof Ayiecho Olweny (Muhoroni), Mr Gor Sungu (Kisumu Town East),
Dr Adhu Awiti (Karachuonyo) and Mr Owino Likowa (Migori).
Others
were Mr Erick Nyamunga (Nyando), Dr Oburu Odinga (Bondo) and Mr
Philip Okundi (Rangwe).
‘Stage being set for
lawlessness’
The legislators said they had information
that the stage was being set for lawlessness to the extent that
when certain politicians were assassinated, it would be blamed
on prevalent insecurity.
But Government spokesman Dr Alfred
Mutua warned against the politicisation of issues of law and
order.
Police officers remove the body of a victim of the
violence in Mathare 4A on Wednesday. Seven people have so far
died in the skirmishes suspected to have been triggered by the
outlawed Mungiki sect last Saturday. Picture by Jacob
Otieno
Mutua said the Government would get to the bottom of
the matter and do all it could to solve the problems in
Mathare.
He said Government officers were doing all they
could to resolve the issue by identifying both short and
long-term solutions.
Tension was high in Mathare slums as the
youths, brandishing the banned sect’s flags, attempted to
storm Pangani Police Station, where they were repulsed by police
officers who fired at them.
Angry Mathare residents lynched
one youth as the demonstrating group was forced back by General
Service Unit officers deployed to restore calm in the troubled
slum.
The GSU pursued the troublemakers and fired at them,
turning the slum into a no-go zone for the better part of
Wednesday.
Accusations reek of a hidden agenda
Wednesday’s
demo at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park raised eyebrows, as it
emerged that it had been licensed by the police under the banner
of the Kenya National Youth Alliance, whose patron is Mr Maina
Njenga, the Mungiki leader in police custody.
Nairobi
Provincial Police Officer Mr King’ori Mwangi said two
councillors from Murang’a — Michuki’s home
district — had applied for the licence and obtained the
all clear from the police.
The demonstrators also came out
boldly in their attack against Ali, saying he had failed to
maintain security.
They condemned the recent attack on the
home of Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki and the
killing of a chief by the invading gang.
The marchers also
demanded the release of Njenga. However, the politicians said it
was curious that the group targeted Ali but had no problem with
Michuki.
They also dismissed the raid on Michuki’s
Kangema rural home as "stage-managed". They said the
demonstration and accusations against Ali reeked of a hidden
agenda that could point at stage-managed insecurity.
Government
has the machinery and resources
Saying the Kibaki
Administration had failed and should resign, Awiti added: "For
how long are Kenyans going to be killed in ethnic-fuelled
violence?".
"We are horrified by the level of
insecurity and lawlessness in the country today and in Nairobi
in particular," added Kajwang’.
The Mbita MP said
it was wrong for the Government to allow the demonstration by
the illegal sect.
"I wonder why they were given a
licence," posed Kajwang’.
He said Mungiki and
Taliban terror groups were well known and Government should take
action.
Anglican Church Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi appealed
to the warring factions to seek dialogue and lasting solutions
to their problems.
"We are calling upon the Government
to take the undercurrents in these volatile areas seriously and
sensitively confront the issue at hand, as the custodians and
protectors of people’s liberties," Nzimbi said in a
statement.
The Anglican prelate said the Government had the
machinery and resources to restore order and harmony in
strife-torn areas.
Nominated MP Njoki Ndung’u also
called for calm and said law enforcement agents should be left
to do their work.
Demonstration heightened tension
The
demonstration heightened tension and panic in the capital as the
youths first assembled at Uhuru Park, where they plotted and a
read a press statement before spilling onto Nairobi streets and
bringing traffic to a standstill for hours.
Some of the
placards they carried read: "Equal Rights and Justice. Ali
Stop Selective Justice, Maina Njenga is the Only Political
Prisoner."
The group’s statement — read by
Mr Joe Waiga, the party’s executive director —
lamented that many people were being arrested for crimes they
did not commit and asked Ali to resign.
Waiga said the attack
on Michuki’s home showed there was insecurity. Unknown
people attacked the minister’s Kangema home where they
fired 51 bullets and shattered his glass door.
The
demonstrators appeared well organised and most of them were
neatly dressed in sharp suits while a handful wore woollen
headgear.
On reaching the Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, the
group shouted at women and children who had fled the slum
violence and taken refuge there, but police intervened.
Whole
sections of the slum deserted
The group then marched to the
slum, where more trouble erupted after police lobbed teargas at
them. This led to the killing of one man whom residents said was
one of the youths.
He was allegedly found carrying a sword
and was running away from the policemen when he was cornered by
members of the public and stoned to death.
Whole sections of
the slum were deserted as residents fled with their
belongings.
For several hours, Mungiki youths clashed with
contingents of police officers deployed in the area.
Nairobi
Provincial Commissioner Mr James Waweru told The Standard the
dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on Tuesday would stand until calm
was restored.
Earlier, the PC had met all city police bosses
and provincial administrators whom he urged to eradicate the
Mungiki menace.
He said some sect members were imported to
the slum to cause mayhem.
"We have established that
those who went about killing innocent people in Mathare were
imported from Dandora. We are investigating," he
said.
Waweru said the Government was determined to eliminate
proscribed groups to make the city secure for investors.
|
|
|
|
9
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
How gangs' clash over illicit brew led to
orgy of violence in Nairobi shanty
Story by FRED
MUKINDA
Publication Date: 11/9/2006
The ongoing
violence in Mathare slums was sparked by a row between Mungiki
and Taliban gangs over the control of the lucrative chang'aa
trade.
But the wrangles quickly degenerated into a full-blown
fight between communities which has left at least seven people
dead, scores of others injured and more than 100 houses
burnt.
Innocent residents were caught up in the chaos and had
to flee the expansive slum for fear of their lives.
The
violence brings to the fore a security problem the slum
residents have lived with for years.
The residents live by
the law of the jungle as police hardly venture into the
crime-prone slum. They claim police had left the provision of
security in the hands of Mungiki and Taliban and, in turn, the
gangs share some of the money they collect from every household
and business as protection fees with the officers.
Vigilante
groups
In the absence of police, the self-styled vigilante
groups have been collecting Sh300 from each chang'aa brewer per
week, Sh30 from every house, Sh50 from kiosk owners and Sh1,000
from shopkeepers on Juja Road.
They say the money is for the
security services.
The residents say there is hardly State
security, neither do they enjoy basic social amenities. The
vacuum has been filled by the dangerous gangs who provide
services such as water and electricity on payment.
The
hostility which has been simmering in the slum boiled over on
Sunday when chang'aa dealers rose up against Mungiki sect
members who had imposed a ban on brewing of the illegal liquor
in a section of Mathare Valley.
The sect had accused the
brewers of shifting loyalty to local police and the provincial
administration and remitting money as protection fee to
them.
The ban had been in effect for almost a week and
several residents who felt deprived of their drink, supported
the brewers.
In confrontations that followed, a house was set
on fire on the claims that its owner was hosting a Mungiki
member.
The fire spread to adjacent houses and about 100 more
were flattened, setting the stage for a revenge and deadly
attack on Monday night.
Intricate details
The Nation
unearthed the intricate details of the subtle and long-standing
gang operations in the slum that resulted in the violence.
Mr
Nahashon Ndolo moved to a shack in Mathare 4B five years
ago.
After a month, a gang of about 50 men armed with pangas
and rungus and accompanied by dogs stormed his house.
"The
sound of gliding pangas was intimidating; I had been warned,"
said Mr Ndolo.
He quickly opened the door and came to face
with the gang and handed over Sh30 as money to guarantee his
safety for another month.
Such gangs have either compromised
the police or work in cahoots with provincial administration
officials deployed in the areas.
Sixty-year-old Ojaya Aliech
has lived in the area for 30 years.
"Names of the
hardcore Mungiki members are not mentioned aloud or in public,"
he warns before narrating his tribulations with the gang.
He
prefers to use vijana (youth) any time he wants to talk about
the adherents.
Mr Aliech said: "Paying security fee is a
guarantee that nobody will attack within or outside your house
but the problem is the security men are from a particular
tribe."
Electricity supply in the slum has also been
taken over by Mungiki.
The single water pipe that supplies
the households was laid by a Catholic mission based in Nairobi
but it is now under Mungiki control.
"A plot owner or
landlord risks being hacked to death if he connects a pipe to
supply his tenants without authority from Mungiki," said a
driver who has lived in the area for five years.
The gang
members illegally tap electricity from main transmission lines
and connect it to the houses and their owners pay a monthly
Sh300 fee.
The security situation got worse because security
groups made up of members of a particular community and the
residents opted to live near their neighbours who are fellow
tribesmen.
Thus, Mungiki attacks against brewers in some area
was seen as an attack by a specific community.
Extended
terror
And when it unleashed terror, the brewers called on
their kinsmen in Kosovo area of the valley, which falls under
the Talibans.
"The Talibans are very few in Mathare and
so they called for reinforcement from Kariobangi South and
Dandora where they have their roots," explained Mr Aliech.
The two groups clashed at Kosovo, where Mungiki extended the
violence to traders.
|
|
|
|
9
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Thousands flee their homes as slum death
toll goes up
Story by MICHAEL MUGWANG'A
Publication
Date: 11/9/2006
Thousands continued fleeing their homes
in the violence-ravaged Mathare slums, Nairobi, yesterday as two
more people died, bringing the death toll to eight.
An aerial
view of a section of the sprawling Mathare Valley slum in
Nairobi that has been deserted by residents fleeing bloody
clashes Photos/Joseph Mathenge
The two, including a
middle-aged man, were killed despite the heavy police deployment
to curb the factional fighting, which entered its fourth day.
The fighting centres around two gangs calling themselves Mungiki
and Taliban.
The first killings in the sprawling slums were
reported on Tuesday. Four people were hacked to death by members
of two rival gangs and two others were shot dead by
police.
Meanwhile, 10 MPs yesterday alleged that there was a
plot to assassinate Lang'ata MP Raila Odinga.
The MPs said
the rising insecurity and the attack on Internal Security
minister John Michuki's rural home in Kangema, Murang'a
District, may be part of a wider plot to eliminate Mr Odinga, a
key figure opposed to the Kibaki administration.
The Mathare
killings have triggered a mass exodus from the densely-populated
slum over security fears.
Yesterday's killings occurred
shortly after Nairobi provincial police officer King'ori Mwangi
overflew the area six times in a police helicopter to monitor
the situation.
After landing at the adjacent Moi Airbase,
Eastleigh, Mr Mwangi entered his vehicle but angry locals
blocked Juja Road, demanding an assurance on their security.
It
was after he briefly addressed the crowd that he was informed
about the seventh killing. "We found the body of a man with
a pile of stones near his head," Mr Mwangi said.
Those
fleeing the violence joined others outside the Moi Airbase,
where they had spent the night in the cold without any food and
water. Other groups camped at the nearby SDA Church and at a
petrol station at Mathare Area 4A.
The resurgence of violence
in Mathare and Kuresoi in Rift Valley has been condemned by
Anglican clergy and a number of MPs. They demanded that the
Government move fast to restore peace.
In a related
development, a demonstration organised to denounce the killings
in Mathare slums was quickly transformed into a forum to demand
the release of Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, who has been in
police custody over unrelated charges.
The demonstrators also
called on police commissioner Hussein Ali to resign over the
rising insecurity. They also claimed that there was "an
attempt by some elements in the police force to kill Mr
Michuki".
Despite the deployment of lorry loads of the
crack paramilitary General Service Unit and regular police,
Mathare remained tense.
CPK Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi
condemned the rising insecurity, terming it "a wave of
ethnic conflicts".
He challenged the Government to use
the resources at its disposal to bring the situation under
control.
Archbishop Nzimbi also appealed to the rival
communities to solve their differences through dialogue.
The
insecurity in Mathare, Kuresoi and Mt Elgon was on Tuesday
discussed in Parliament, with MPs demanding a ministerial
statement on the violence.
Ndhiwa MP Orwa Ojodeh also asked
Mr Michuki to explain why police had taken so long to quell the
Mathare clashes.
Outside Parliament, the Kenya Alliance of
Resident Associations (Kara) also asked the security minister to
take charge and ensure that Kenyans were guaranteed security in
their neighbourhoods.
Scuffle broke out
Yesterday, a
scuffle broke out during the demonstration at Mathare, when
suspected members of the Mungiki sect approached the Moi
Airbase, chanting slogans in support of their leader, Mr
Njenga.
The demonstrators, who had started their demo in the
city centre, had gone all the way to the estate while being
trailed by armed police. The officers had to fire shots in the
air in an effort to avert a confrontation.
It was not clear
to which group one of the latest victims of the killings
belonged. However, police said he was beaten to death by
"members of the public". Other sources said the man
suspected to be a Mungiki member was shot dead by police.
Some
of the men, women and children camping at the Moi Airbase told
Nation that they could not return to their homes as they had
been threatened with new attacks.
There was talk of a
possible revenge attack following the Tuesday killing of a man
who had gone to help his friend move out of the area. He was
murdered and his pick-up vehicle set ablaze.
Coming
back
"When these people say they are coming back, they
surely do," said an elderly man who has been camping
outside Moi Air base for the last three days.
"I have
lived in that house for more than 30 years. I will stay with my
family out here and once security is restored I will go back to
my house," he said.
Transporters were cashing in on the
plight of those fleeing the area to other parts of the city
yesterday.
And a humanitarian group moved in to distribute
food to the slum dwellers outside the camp as appeals for
further assistance increased.
The Kenya Red Cross society,
whose ambulance was on stand-by in the area, began giving out
food to the families.
They also donated blankets and water to
those who had lost most of their bedding when their houses were
torched.
Meanwhile, Nakuru DC Andrew Rukaria yesterday said
calm had been restored in parts of Kuresoi.
He said that
following an operation by security personnel during which four
suspected arsonists were shot dead, the situation was slowly
coming back to normal.
But he told the residents not to flee
their homes, saying that would encourage looters to take
advantage of their absence to steal.
"We will ensure
that law and order is restored and that all the residents get
back to their homes to continue with their routine and normal
activities," the DC said.
Most of the residents, mostly
mothers and their children, fled the area following the fresh
flare-ups, and are camped in Molo.
Molo Traders Association
chairman Muraya Marioko urged the different communities living
the area to co-exist in harmony.
He said leaders and local
elders had an important role to play to ensure that all the
communities coexisted peacefully.
He praised the Provincial
Administration for taking tough measures to ensure the
skirmishes are stopped
|
|
|
|
8
novembre 2006
|
THE
STANDARD
Night of bloodshed
08.11.2006
Four
people were hacked to death and another two shot dead by police
in Mathare slums on Monday night as the violence — that
began on Sunday — escalated.
The four who were hacked
to death are believed to have met their fate at the hands of
members of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
The other two were shot
dead by police officers who moved in at dawn to quell the
violence.
And hundreds of fearful residents deserted their
shanty homes as two warring gangs appeared to take over the slum
village and threaten their security.
But last evening, the
Government dispatched the paramilitary General Service Unit to
the area in a bid to check the violence.
The terror, that was
visited on the slum overnight, was evident at dawn when the six
bodies were found lying on muddy paths and 20 houses, burnt in
the mayhem, were still smouldering. In an unprecedented display
of the extent of slum take-over by gang members, men armed with
guns and crude weapons repulsed the police.
But the law
enforcers moved to contain a repeat of the attacks last night,
with Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Mr John Waweru imposing a
dusk-to-dawn curfew on the slum.
He said anyone seen
venturing out of his or her dwelling after 7 pm would be
arrested.
Waweru also ordered police officers from the
Muthaiga area to keep away from the slum as he moved in a
heavily armed contingent of GSU with orders to patrol the area
on a 24-hour basis.
The Mathare gangs, suspected to belong to
the outlawed Mungiki and Taliban, had taken control of areas
deep in the slum where police dared not venture for the better
part of the day.
Police officers operated from the vicinity
of Juja Road and avoided an area christened Kosovo that is
situated along the Nairobi River.
The Nairobi Provincial
Police Officer, Mr King’ori Mwangi, who led the operation,
was at one time stoned and shouted down by angry youths, who
said they did not want the police since they had not answered
their distress calls the previous night.
Initial reports
indicated that the attacks were carried out by Mungiki members
in an area believed to be under the control of the rival Taliban
gang.
Sources suspect the motive was to avenge Sunday’s
attack in which the Taliban burnt houses in an area considered
Mungiki territory.
A Datsun pick-up, which had been driven
into the area to evacuate families, was set ablaze and burnt to
a shell.
Tension remained high as residents fled in large
numbers for fear of more attacks.
Starehe MP Mr Maina
Kamanda, who is also the Sports minister, visited the area last
evening and said the Government would provide relief aid to
those who had fled their homes. He called on the police to
intensify security operations in the area.
A steady downpour
that was experienced for the better part of yesterday made
things worse for the fleeing residents, who could be seen
shielding themselves with polythene papers.
"What can
you do when houses are being burnt and people killed yet police
cannot help?" asked Mr Joseph Munyao, a father of
four.
Most affected were young children and women, some of
who said they did not have anywhere to go.
The helplessness
of residents was evident when, despite the heavy presence of
security officers, a fourth victim was killed early in the
morning even as police watched from a distance.
The body of
the man was later found lying in a pool of blood in a ditch with
deep cuts in the head and neck.
Residents said the victim was
among those who spoke on the skirmishes on Monday when Waweru
visited the area.
There was trouble when police went to pick
the body, with some of the gangs and residents shouting and
throwing stones at them. The officers managed to remove the body
after threatening to shoot the angry crowd.
Another man was
found bleeding with deep cuts in his head and neck, and was
rushed to hospital.
Mwangi led a team of police from the GSU,
the Administration and Regular police to the area in an effort
to calm the situation.
And the Kenya Certificate of Primary
Education examinations went on at nearby Genesis and Upendo
primary schools where candidates braved the commotion to sit
their papers.
Fleeing residents and parents sheltered from
the rain under the eaves of the exam rooms.
The pupils had
difficult times restraining themselves from looking out of their
windows as their neighbours, siblings and parents cowered in
fear.
The rivalry between the two gangs started at the
weekend when Mungiki raided chang’aa-drinking dens and
poured the intoxicant in an area where Taliban collect
protection money.
The Taliban retaliated by burning houses in
the latter’s jurisdiction on Sunday night. And the Mungiki
yesterday morning struck again in Taliban areas with devastating
results.
The two groups have imposed various illegal levies
on residents. They include fees for security, use of toilets,
sale of illicit brews and protection, illegally tapped
electricity, water supply and others. Business people also pay
levies to the gangs.
Mathare is not a stranger to violence.
In June 2003, a rent war erupted when about 100 suspected
Mungiki adherents went on the rampage leading to vicious fights,
which left 15 youths dead.
The youths had been ferried into
the area by a landlord to evict tenants he had disagreed with
over rent.
Emerging details indicate the flare-up was
triggered by turf wars.
Mungiki is in charge of housing,
water, toilets and security and every resident is bound by the
unwritten law whose breach can lead to summary execution, say
sources.
If you are a visitor in Mathare, you must pay Sh30
every time you visit the toilet.
Residents who want
electricity must part with Sh200 per month, sources
say.
According to the residents, trouble has been brewing
following Mungiki’s attempt to lock out the Taliban from
levying protection fee on chang’aa brewers.
The Taliban
have been collecting Sh300 for every drum of chang’aa, but
Mungiki have been planning to rid the slum of the brew,
residents said.
|
|
|
|
8
novembre 2006
|
THE
DAILY NATION
Six people killed as fresh skirmishes
erupt in slum
Story by FRED MUKINDA and KAMORE
MAINA
Publication Date: 11/8/2006
Paramilitary police
were yesterday deployed in Nairobi's Mathare area to end
fighting in which six people were killed.
Scores of others
have been wounded and property damaged in three days of
clashes.
The Government says the violence pits two criminal
gangs – Mungiki and Taliban.
A chief was also suspended
yesterday as the Government moved to end the blood-letting.
Nairobi provincial commissioner James Waweru, accompanied by
Cabinet minister Maina Kamanda, announced the decision to deploy
the General Service Unit personnel after complaints by residents
that they had no faith in regular police patrols.
The move
came as MPs in Parliament raised the issue of insecurity in the
city and some parts of the country and asked Internal Security
minister John Michuki to give a statement.
Two of those
killed in Mathare were shot by police while the rest were hacked
to death by members of the criminal gangs. The killings took
place on Monday night a few hours after the provincial security
team – led by Mr Waweru and city police boss King'ori
Mwangi – addressed the residents at Mathare C area.
The
police presence did not stop the rival gangs from fighting,
which spread to Area 4B later in the night.
Mr Mwangi said
police were forced to open fire when people armed with machetes
and guns confronted fellow residents and officers on
patrol.
"One of them was armed with an AK-47 rifle and
he was so daring to open fire at the officers. He vanished into
the shanties when police shot dead two of his colleagues,"
Mr Mwangi said.
The other four people were hacked to death
even as police patrolled the slum and the entire Juja Road.
Show
of defiance
And when Mr Mwangi returned to the slum
yesterday, surrounded by armed officers, he came face to face
with a section of armed residents.
In a show of defiance,
some raised their weapons in the air when Mr Mwangi addressed
them and ordered them to keep away the weapons.
The police
chief and his officers watched helplessly as the residents vowed
not to disarm.
Investigations
Addressing the residents
yesterday evening the PC said: "As per your demands I've
removed the chief pending investigations."
The residents
had complained to Mr Waweru and Mr Mwangi accusing the chief and
administration police under him of condoning illicit brew
making.
They also said the chief had failed in maintaining
security in the area.
"Security belongs to the
Government and no vigilante groups will be allowed to operate
here," he added.
Mr Waweru also warned residents not to
carry weapons, saying they would be presumed to be criminals.
Mr
Kamanda, the Starehe MP, said security issues in Mathare would
remain in the hands of police and not individuals.
He told
the fighting groups that none of them had the right to police
the residents and those found to be doing so would be
arrested.
The minister also supported the chief's rem |
