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Le notizie su Korogocho e gli slums di Nairobi direttamente dai quotidiani kenyani
21 dicembre 2004	THE STANDARD IMF frees aid in key boost to economy Tuesday, December 21, 2004 Benson Kathuri The International Monetary Fund last night released Sh18 billion aid to Kenya, paving the way for other donors, who customarily follow the Bretton Woods’ lead, to make more much-needed support available. The IMF Washington office said Kenya’s request for the crucial funding under the economic recovery strategy had finally been accepted, after a three-year wait. A statement issued by Bhatt Gita on behalf of IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, said the fund had completed the first review of Kenya’s economic performance. The decision is a significant endorsement of President Mwai Kibaki’s government and comes with Sh6.2 billion, which has been immediately released. “The completion of the review enables the release of a further Sh6.2 billion, which brings the total amount drawn under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement to about Sh9.2 billion,” said Bhatt. This now means that the government will drastically cut on its heavy borrowing in the domestic money market. The quick disbursing funds would help the government bridge the widening budget deficit. The news is also a relief to embattled CBK Governor Andrew Mullei, who has come under increasing criticism over the way he has handled the rising interest rates. Though Mullei has defended himself saying the government’s weak financial position and rising oil prices had contributed to high inflation, market players are not convinced. Mullei can now convince the government of the need to reduce domestic borrowing and also keep to the agreed priority spending. When the IMF mission visited the country last September, the mission head Godfrey Kalinga expressed optimism that the board would approve funding. He, however, expressed concern over the government’s heavy borrowing from the market. Kalinga told Finance minister David Mwiraria not to borrow in excess of Sh10 billion annually. He said such borrowing would cloud out credit to the struggling private sector. Mwiraria, who was facing a Sh50 billion budgetary gap, said he intended to borrow Sh30 billion from the market through Treasury Bills and Bonds. However, following the new development, Treasury can now relax its domestic borrowing. However, the government, which has struggled to access funds in the past two years, will have to avoid the pitfalls of the former Kanu regime that saw the facility withdrawn after borrowing only Sh3 billion. Obviously, the IMF — like the World Bank — will keep a close eye to ensure the loan is spent on agreed pro-poor programmes. When the IMF deputy managing director, Ms Ann Krueger, visited the country last May, she tabled several conditions the government must meet under the funding arrangement. She told the government to make more money available to the social sector and improve public financial management. Krueger also said the government must develop a more elaborate rural development strategy that would raise agricultural productivity. The release of the funds is being seen as confirmation of warming relations between the government and the key donor. Other donors are now likely to release Sh400 billion to finance Kenya’s ambitious economic recovery strategy. Since 1996 when the IMF adopted the PRGF as the new tool for lending to poor and developing countries, Kenya has not been able to access a quarter of the money pledged. However, this is likely to change now that the programme has been restored. In the initial arrangement, the Fund had pledged a staggering Sh53 billion, but it only released Sh9 billion in three tranches. The fund locked Kenya out of the PRGF programme in 2002, accusing the then government of grand corruption. However, the programme was reinstated in November 2003 after a high-level donor consultative meeting in Nairobi. The first discussion was held in May with a promise that the money could be released in September, only for another mission to jet in for a similar review. During the last consultative mission, Kalinga said the country had made tremendous efforts in fighting corruption. Recent developments, especially in the fight against corruption front and Kenya’s commendable effort to resolve regional conflicts, may have worked to its advantage. When he visited the country recently, The EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr Louis Michel, said Kenya deserves further support. The government needs balance of payment aid and project financing to put the economy back on track. It factored billions of shillings in donor aid in its Budget that has not been forthcoming. This has put a strain on the Budget and forced the government to borrow from the domestic money market, exposing it to blackmail from commercial banks, which have demanded interest rates of more than 20 per cent. Currency speculators have also attacked the shilling, sensing vulnerability because of the donor stand-off. With the IMF’s seal of approval, it is anticipated that the banks will back off, relieving pressure on both the shilling and domestic rates.
20 dicembre 2004	THE STANDARD IMF decides on Sh18 billion for Kenya Publication Date: 20 december 2004 Hussein Mohammed and Benson Kathuri The board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meets today to decide whether Kenya should get Sh18 billion funding under the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF). And the outcome of today’s meeting will decide whether full lending will be restored. If the board bases its decision on the findings of a recent mission to Kenya led by Mr Godfrey Kalinga, then Kenya could assess the money for the first time in almost three years. But should the country miss the funding, it would be a double tragedy, as the European Union (EU) is waiting for IMF to endorse the government’s policies before releasing its Sh13 billion in budgetary support. Other donors are also closely monitoring the situation and will take a position depending on the outcome for a clean bill of health from the IMF is usually a signal for them to restore funding. The donor agencies last year pledged close to Sh400 billion to fund the ambitious economic recovery strategy and are waiting in the wings to see if IMF will release its money. Finance minister David Mwiraria and his team at Treasury hopes that the board will release the money that would help curb government borrowing from the domestic market. However, IMF past record in releasing quick disbursing funds which go towards government budgetary support puts Kenya in a tricky position. Since 1996 when the Fund adopted the poverty reduction and growth facility as the new tool for lending to poor and developing countries, Kenya has not been able to access a quarter of the money pledged. In that period, the Fund has pledged a staggering Sh53 billion, but it has only released a meagre Sh9 billion in three tranches. However, the relationship between the Fund and the current government is said to be cordial compared to the acrimonious relationship that existed during the former Kanu regime. The government caved in to demands by international lenders that it allows interest charges to rise. This, market observers say, is a clear indication that that the government is desperate to secure a deal with the IMF. Kenya was locked out of the PRGF programme in 2002 after IMF accused the government of grand corruption. However, the country was reinstated in November 2003 and after a high-level donor consultative meeting held in Nairobi. The first discussion was held in May with a promise that the money could be released in September only for another mission to jet in for a similar review. During the last consultative mission, Kalinga said the country had made tremendous efforts in fighting corruption. He, however, expressed concern at the high domestic borrowing that he said was likely to deny the private sector the much-needed credit. Another issue that that may jeopardise the government’s chances is the perceived mismanagement of public funds. Soon after leaving the country, the government released the public expenditure review report that revealed massive wastage of public funds by virtually all ministries. World Bank Country Director Makhtar Diop accused the government of poor accountability in public spending. The World Bank wields considerable influence on the IMF and the government will be hoping that Diop’s word will not be a determining factor today. However, the government’s relationship with the Bank has been cordial, as it has already released the country assistance strategy that pledges billions of shillings for sector-wide support for the next three years.
10 dicembre 2004	THE DAILY NATION COMMENTARY How not to bridge poverty gap Publication Date: 12/10/2004 Mr Goransson - the Swedish ambassador to Kenya The report on inequality in Kenya received a huge amount of attention, although almost all of the "commentators" emphatically stated that it did not reveal anything fundamentally new. The grim and, presumably, well-known, fact is that Kenya is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world. And even worse; the gap is widening and poverty is increasing. Is there a connection? I think that the connection is manifested in the report, making the issue ideological and these "well-known" facts controversial. But gross inequality is not only unfair but also inefficient. It costs by causing tension and conflict. It reduces incomes by slowing down economic growth. The most common arguments voiced by critics of reduced inequality are: * Those who are not treated as equals are culturally destined to be treated in that way. * The disadvantaged have chosen to be so and/or are simply lazy. * Those who earn less are simply not very productive. Their low remuneration reflects their low productivity, and to raise salaries would mean that they would become jobless * Inequalities provide incentives to climb out of poverty. * Inequality might be wrong or unfair, but we need growth first, which can then "trickle down." Need to preserve supremacy These arguments are old and they are well-known. They are simply the eternal rhetoric of those who want to preserve their supremacy. Culture may be used to explain inequality and oppression, but it does not justify it. Apartheid became a culture for many people in South Africa, but that never made it acceptable. It may be that some people in Sweden, for instance, can afford to make a trade-off between earning good money and having a lot of spare time, but an illiterate woman in North Eastern Province or an HIV-infected boy in Nyanza does not have this option. And if a person truly has the power of choice, to be poor or not, it does not make sense to call that person poor. Finally, the issue of incentives: I have never understood the argument that the rich need more money to work more whereas the poor need less money to work more. However, there is one central aspect that has been absent in the debate so far: The relation between growth and equality. The need for increased growth that reduces inequality and, vice versa, the need for reduced inequality to spur growth. No known example exists that a country has been able to reduce its poverty, permanently and sustainably, without economic growth. Growth is necessary, but often not sufficient Ñ the pattern of growth matters. The simple, but basic economics in fighting poverty is: It is more effective, both for reduction of individual poverty and the increase in national incomes, if per capita incomes increase for a large number of poor in a society than for a rich minority. If the 56 per cent poor Kenyans, almost 18 million people, earn another dollar a day, their income has doubled and their situation improved. If rich Kenyans get another dollar a day, it has very little effect on their income and even less on the reduction of poverty. Some say that growth must precede reduced inequality claiming that "redistribution" can take place only after growth has increased the resources in society: "You must increase the size of the cake before you divide it". And "Besides, this country is so poor that there is nothing to redistribute." In other words, we can't do anything for the poor right now, but wait. Nothing could be further from the truth. Reduction of poverty is to push for growth, but not any growth. It focuses on growth not for, but by, the majority of the population. Reduced inequality is thus a result of growth taking place here and now, not measures taken after growth has occurred. If growth has taken place and redistribution is needed afterwards, what does it imply? Simply that the initial growth did not include the poor, because if so, redistribution would not be needed. "Redistribution" can be important, but often more so from their political, optical or symbolic effects than from a change of power, assets or incomes perspective. Those who think that growth for the rich must happen first, and then be redistributed seem to reason like this: Assume that a rich Kenyan has 300,000 acres of land and a large number of farming neighbours, with extremely little land. To provide more land to these poor neighbours, the rich man's holdings must first increase up to 350,000 acres. How he acquires the extra 50,000 and from whom, is a bit unclear. Then, but only then, can we distribute some of the additional 50,000 acres to the landless. In the long run, a change leaving the poor better off will also benefit the richer segments of society, through increased security and stability, as well as increased business. This is my "trickle up" theory. The best way to reduce inequality is to boost growth for and by the poor: * Improve and secure land tenure and other property rights for the poor. * Give women equal value and chances. More human rights and less inhuman rites. * Facilitate employment and economic opportunities. Make it easier to move from the informal sector to the formal sector. * Extend financial services to slums and rural areas. * Improve services to the poor. Healthy and educated people have more capacities, are less vulnerable and earn more. A National Economic and Social Council has been established. Here are some modest proposals for their agenda: How are resources allocated? Scrutinise laws, budgets and policy decisions with the perspective of identifying who are most affected. A few years ago, there was a tax on bicycles. Who paid? The top civil servants in Kenya have salaries many times higher than their colleagues in Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana, but the lower echelons don't. How come? Agriculture is the backbone of this country. How are the resources in agriculture used? To make the small farmer more productive, or for subsidies to loss-running State corporations, often tantamount to subsidies of the urban population? How are resources for the delivery of services allocated? More than 30 per cent of the Government's health budget is used for Kenyatta National Hospital, a referral facility in the capital. Who benefits? Are investments in water channelled to areas with the greatest needs? The objective to reduce the glaring disparities is crucial, twofold and intertwined: It is a human right obligation and a prerequisite for increased economic growth. The issue of "equality for growth" needs to be addressed. It was said that the report on inequality did not reveal anything new. The "new" would be if something is done about it.
9 dicembre 2004	THE DAILY NATION BUSINESS Write off Africa's debt, urges Nyong'o Story by KEN OPALA Publication Date: 12/09/2004 Africa's debt is too much to bear, and must be written off, regional leaders have demanded. This, they argued, would stimulate growth and reduce the main obstacle to progress – poverty. They spoke at the opening of the Commission for Africa meeting at the African Medical and Research Foundation's (Amref) International Training Centre in Nairobi. Among the crusaders were Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi, Kenya’s Planning minister Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, UN undersecretary Anna Tibaijuka, Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai and Oxfam pan-African policy adviser Houghton Irungu. Virtually no black African country, including Kenya, can afford servicing its debts in time, it emerged. Addressing the three-day consultative talks, Prof Anyang' Nyong’o said: "It (debt) has become too much to be repaid, and is unproductive because it does not empower Africans. People are spending too much time talking about (debt relief), yet Africa is in an emergency." The meeting, which ended yesterday, was attended by 120 representatives of the civil society in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia. The commission is a British prime minister Tony Blair initiative that highlights Africa’s woes by galvanising Europe to focus more on this least developed continent. A series of meetings are taking place in five African cities this month to solicit African voices to be translated into a report next March. The premier promises to follow up on the report as Britain takes over leadership of the G8 – a grouping of eight of the world’s most industrialised countries – and the European Union later next year. Amref was selected to host the East and Horn of Africa Regional Consultation based on its 50-year history of community service in healthcare. Said Prof Nyong'o: "If you cancel the debt, you empower Africans, and in so doing, improve their purchasing power. The (debt) should be cancelled now." Africa's debt stands at $350 billion (Sh28 trillion). By the end of 1998, repayments amounted to $30 billion (Sh2.4 trillion), 25 per cent of the continent’s exports. Kenya’s accumulated debt is $45 billion (Sh3.6 trillion). The African debt has risen 24-fold over the last 34 years, while the proportion of those living in abject poverty has shot up from 100 million to 304 million in the same period.
7 dicembre 2004	THE DAILY NATION NEWS Conference pushes for debts waiver Story by MURIITHI MURIUKI Publication Date: 12/7/2004 A regional consultative meeting to find solutions facing Africa began in Nairobi yesterday. Participants pushed for the total cancellation of debts owed to least developed countries. The three-day Commission for Africa's (CFA) East and Horn of Africa conference also resolved to rally African States to lobby for fair trade terms as one of the ways of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Commission for Africa is an independent international commission set up by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair to take a fresh look at how the international community could support Africa's development. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a commissioner on the CFA, opened the consultation, at the African Medical and Research Foundation International Training Centre in Nairobi, attended by representatives from 12 countries.
6 dicembre 2004	THE STANDARD Africa on the sidelines Commission wants the world’s poorest continent given the kiss of life by Ken Ramani Saturday December 4, 2004 Two years ago. British Prime Minister Tony Blair set up the Commission to look into ways of resolving Africa’s major problems. He explained that the commission would look at economic issues, education, conflict resolution, health, the environment, HIV/Aids and governance. Blair said the commission would "take a fresh look at Africa’s past, present and future" which would be a "comprehensive assessment" of the situation in the continent, looking at what had worked and what had not in the past. Critics urged that Blair’s initiative must be more than just another report on Africa with yet more targets, plans or strategies that fail to deliver. Two years later, the commission looks like it’s duplicating the activities of the African Union’s not-so-well understood New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) and has nothing new to offer. The continent has had the Lagos Plan of Action for Economic Development of Africa: 1980-2000, Final Act of Lagos (1980) and Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic Recovery (1986-1990), which was later converted into the United Nations Programme of Action for Africa’s Economic Recovery and Development (1986). In the 1990s we also had the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme for Socio-economic Recovery and Transformation (1989), The African Charter for Popular Participation for Development (1990) and the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa. All these initiatives were based on comprehensive studies by Africans and were mainly concerned with promoting peace and security, alleviation of poverty and the general improvement of living standards in the continent. But they all miserably failed to achieve the intended goals. Currently the continent has an arrangement with the United States called the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa), which has opened up export opportunities to the US. It is yet to be fully exploited. The reason? African countries, save for South Africa and perhaps Nigeria, have limited capacity to produce enough to beat their export quotas to the US, which has over the years been protecting its market against imports. One fact remains about Africa: Economic growth has been in steady decline over the years. Per capita income in the whole sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, grew by 2.7 per cent in the 1960s, went down to zero during the first half the 1980s and fell drastically by 1.2 per cent per year during the second half of 1980s. Africa accounts for barely 1 per cent of the global GDP and about 2 per cent of the world trade. Its share of global manufactured exports has been almost zero over the past 30 years. It has lost market share in global trade in even its traditional primary goods and has failed to diversify on any scale. It is generally recognised that for Africa to get out of the economic morass it is in, it needs to get a conducive trading regime in the world market. Lack of capacity to influence and set the agenda or pace for negotiations has been a major impediment to the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa. African countries are small both in economic size and political power. They account for less than 2 per cent of global trade and output. Consequently, they are typically not in a position to determine which issues should or should not be on the negotiation agenda. Trade negotiation is a bargaining game and so countries with political and economic clout are able to determine which issues will be part of the agenda. For example, the lack of ability to formulate effective trade policies could affect a country’s ability to diversify exports and hence deal with external shocks. Writing in the Economic and Statistical Analyses of Trade Capacity Building in Sub-Saharan Africa, Chantal Dupasquier and Patrick N Osakwe say: Trade negotiations and agreements have become regular features of the world economy and are slowly encompassing aspects of economic and social activities that were previously not considered part of the responsibilities of the multilateral trading system. Currently, more than two-thirds of WTO members are developing countries. This contrasts with the situation in 1947 when there was hardly any developing nation involved in the negotiations under GATT. During the Uruguay Round (1986-1994), African countries made several commitments to the multilateral trading system without fully realising the implications and consequences for their development efforts. These commitments imposed high implementation costs on their economies and diverted resources away from important development projects, with dire consequences for poverty reduction. What African countries need is not commissions of the Blair type. They need trade-related technical assistance and capacity building to enable them understand the consequences of trade proposals and agreements for their economies before making any binding commitments. General lack of awareness, or understanding of trade negotiation, is due to the lack of timely access to information and resources on trade issues. This is compounded by the fact that libraries, research institutes and government departments in these countries are not properly financed and equipped to provide resources on trade issues. Experts say another factor that makes it difficult for African countries to be active in the negotiations is the general lack of analytical and research skills necessary to assess the impact of different proposals and agreements on their economies. The major trouble with African economies is that they are largely agrarian. Africa is yet to industrialise to levels that could lift its economies and offer enough employment opportunities to its ever-increasing number of graduates from universities and colleges. Tariff and non-tariff barriers to agricultural and agro-industrial trade continue to be high. The post WW2 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has excused agricultural products from its standard ethics of international trade. Dumping export subsidies, import quotas, discrimination, and international cartels are not restricted in the agricultural trade, yet GATT denies these same practices for other products! The greatest challenge now facing most African countries that largely depend on raw materials is the rapid technological change especially in the West and the Asian Tigers, which has profoundly affected trading relationships. The development of synthetic substitutes for many traditional primary products such as rubber, cotton, sisal, jute, hides and skins, have all sounded the death knell for poor economies of the world. As things stand now, international trade is largely skewed in favour of the West, the Asian Tigers and China, which as Newly Industrialised Nations are giving the West a run for the money. Yet, Africa looks at the unfolding scenario as an underdog. Even with Nepad and Agoa in place, Africa is far from competing favourably in international trade. Campaigners like Oxfam and Jubilee Research (which ran the "Drop the Debt" campaign) have long urged lenders to write off debts owed by poor countries. They argue that heavily indebted countries are forced to spend more on servicing their debt than feeding or educating their children. When the African Commission reports to the G-8 Summit next year, one hopes that it will convince the club of the highly industrialised nations to write off the debts to give the continent the kiss of life.
17 novembre 2004	THE STANDARD How the urban poor struggle to survive in filth By Lillian Aluanga Tuesday November 16, 2004 Tiny rivulets of raw sewage run outside dozens of tin-roofed mud hovels which to many in Korogocho’s Grogan area count as home. A group of barefoot children with rounded bellies run after each in the dark alleys, oblivious to the stench. A wooden door creaks open as a frail-looking woman peers out at the sound of unfamiliar voices. "What do you want?" she snarls. She is obviously nervous of the uninvited guests standing on her doorstep and our initial request is flatly rejected. She is reluctant to talk because "she doesn’t want people at home to find out what she is doing in the city" but after much coaxing, she grants us an interview. Jane Njambi, who looks much older than her 28 years, has been a commercial sex worker in Nairobi for close to three years now, ever since she parted ways with her husband. "We often had bitter quarrels and fights which led to him throwing me out of the house," she says. Jobless and with two children to support, Njambi soon joined other women already plying the prostitute’s trade in the slum’s ‘Sodom’ area. Her children , a boy and girl aged 10 and 5, are not at home. They usually go to their father’s foodstall at lunch for something to eat because there’s nothing in the house. On a good day, Njambi may service five clients but sometimes she only gets one. Charges are only Sh20 per client and no form of protection or contraception is used – too expensive. Sometimes she has to conduct her business while her children sleep in the next room, a ragged curtain servicing as a thin partition. The children don’t go to school as there is no money for uniform and books. This is a sample of life in Korogocho, where 160,000 residents have been largely left to their own devices by Nairobi City Council, with all that entails when it comes to health, education and employment. According to the surveys, more than half Nairobi’s residents have first-hand experience of the conditions in which Jane battles to survive. Previously considered a predominantly rural affair, poverty is becoming a crucial factor in urban areas. Over 60 per cent of Nairobi’s inhabitants live in slums much like Korogocho. Outside Jane’s house, the paths are narrow and it is best to walk in single file, preferably stooped, to avoid running into the overhanging poles and ‘mabati’ sheets. Along the main ‘street’ leading into the slum man and beast mingle freely. A herd of straggly goats nibble at leaves stacked outside a charcoal-vendor’s kiosk, while nearby a woman bends over a pile of washing. A beat-up jalopy tries to drive past her, knocking her jerry cans over in the process. Outside one of the houses is a mound of garbage, in a state of semi-decomposition after a heavy downpour the previous night. A few metres away stands a derelict structure. It was once a toilet, put up by an NGO, but fell into disrepair when donors pulled out. Part of the wall is crumbling and now human waste flows freely into an adjacent pit, joining a cascading mass of sewage, polythene bags and plastics. The pit has also been the burial ground for many foetuses. At least two are found dumped here every month. Toilets are rare. The few that are available hardly offer any privacy and in most cases a trench serves as toilet bowl. This usually serves more than 100 people. Where some of the residents have pooled their resources to put up a structure, it costs shs 2 a go. A few metres away from the pit is a burst water pipe, used by the residents as a water point. Despite the obvious health risks, they come here to fetch water because it is free. Most of the landlords here charge for water services inside their plots. A 20-litre jerry can of water goes for one shilling, way above what most of the residents can afford. A five-year-old child appears from behind one of the shacks with a yellow jerry can in hand. Hesitant at the sight of strangers, she places her jerry can under the "tap", sipping as she waits for it to fill.
12 novembre 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS Plan for 150,000 houses 'still on course' Story by PATRICK NZIOKA Publication Date: 11/12/2004 The Government expects to meet its pledge of providing 150,000 new housing units a year. But NGOs, communities and professionals must take part, said Lands and Housing minister Amos Kimunya. The Kibera slum upgrading, jointly launched with UN-Habitat, was a step towards fulfilling the promise, he said, adding that secure land ownership will be important in the development of housing. And to ensure that transactions on land are secure, his ministry is setting up a land information system, he said. The system ensures that transactions are timely, and solves the challenges following the Government's issue of three million title deeds in the last five decades. Mr Kimunya was addressing a high-level international experts group meeting on secure land tenure . The meeting at the UN Gigiri offices is jointly hosted by the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, the International Federation of Surveyors, the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy and the United Nations Programme for Human Settlement.
6 novembre 2004	THE EAST AFRICAN Monday, February 3, 2003 Slum Housing is Big Business for Nairobi Politicos By JOHN MBARIA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT In late 2001, Nairobi's Kibera slum experienced a bloody conflict over rents. By the time the police had brought the fighting under control, 15 people had died while many more were injured. The violent confrontation was to later spill over into Ngu Nyumu in Korogocho slums. The "rent revolt" had an interesting beginning, with the then president Daniel Moi and then minister for energy Raila Odinga, now Minister for Roads and Housing, being accused of being agents provocateur for urging tenants not to pay hiked rents. Politicians, newspaper columnists, commentators and the public criticised the two for making what was then regarded as extremely careless remarks. But less than two years down the line, new evidence suggests that rents in Nairobi slums are extraordinarily high. A report of a study of informal settlements says investments made in the city's slums are among the most lucrative in any sector. In the current poorly performing economy, such an investment is probably the only venture where one can recoup the initial investment within a year. The "Rapid Economic Appraisal of Rents in Slums and Informal Settlements" study, which is part of the Kenya government and the UN Human Settlement Programme's collaborative attempt to improve the lot of the more than 57 per cent of Nairobi's residents who live in slums, reveals that Kibera is the most profitable housing investment in the city. Here, the cost of putting up a single room is Ksh12,686 ($159) while the average rent per room is Ksh1,300 ($16) per month. This means that an investor is able to recoup and surpass the initial investment in less than a year. Other informal settlements have annual returns ranging from 60 to 80 per cent and payback periods averaging 16 months. Viewed against the background of the formal property market in Kenya, the report observes; "It would seem quite possible that unauthorised housing is the most lucrative investment in Kenya." The study found that the slum structures are owned by politicians and civil servants. Much of the squatter land in Kibera has been acquired or allocated by politicians and government employees "with enough influence to ensure that they are not displaced." Out of a sample of 120 landlords interviewed two years ago, 41 per cent were government officers, 16 per cent were politicians while 42 per cent were absentee owners "who visited Kibera occasionally." Only a handful of the structures belonged to people who lived in the slums. This is unlike the situation in Mathare and Pumwani, where a large number of investors are residents who "lived at a level fairly similar to their tenants and demonstrated a keen interest in maintaining the community and improving it." Revelations by the study commissioned by UN-Habitat could also inform the current drive by the government, NGOs, civic bodies, church organisations and private citizens involved in the Nairobi Collaborative Slum Upgrading Initiative, which was taken a step further two weeks ago when Habitat executive director Anna Tibaijuka and Mr Odinga signed a memorandum of understanding. The forces of supply and demand, standard of dwelling, services offered and nature of the neighbourhood do not determine the amount of rent paid for Nairobi's slum dwellings. Slum lords, who are not controlled by legal instruments such as the Rent Restriction Act and the Rent Tribunal, have absolute powers to determine rents. The report observes that if the Rent Restriction Act were to be applied effectively in the city slums, "rents would fall by 70 per cent." Many tenants in informal settlements cannot afford the high rents and resort to sharing rooms, leading to overcrowding. The report says that as many as six to 10 tenants occupy a single room, giving "the false impression of affordability." Tenants who are unable to pay have to contend with harassment by agents and members of the provincial administration. In the last regime, members of the Kanu youth wing were often hired by structure owners to enforce payments. Although rents are high in city slums, the structures are rarely improved, they are congested, have no running water or electricity, have leaking roofs and are put up in areas where pit latrines are inadequate or non-existent. Indeed, many tenants are powerless and have to "take or leave" whatever shelter is offered. The report terms the continued demand for high rents "exploitative" and observers say this was the real genesis of the violent flare-up that hit Kibera in November 2001. Structure owners try to justify their high charges, citing the high investment risk involved because of lack of secure tenure as most of the dwellings are constructed on government-owned land, road and railway reserves or privately held but "unoccupied" land. This exposes the investor to the risk of eviction and loss of capital. The amount of investment and the rents charged are related to the perception of risk of eviction. "Residents of informal settlements live in a state of uncertainty, unsure of the next eviction from the government, the City Council, slumlords, private land owners, structure owners or contracted intermediaries," the report says. The most critical consideration to the investor is that there is no compensation for evictions and consequent demolitions. But, according to the report, this can be reversed and rents can come down if investors are provided with a measure of security and tenants given legal protection from unnecessary rent increases. Other considerations for investors are payments to agents and the high transaction costs involved before they are allowed to put up the dwellings. These include payments to local administrators in charge of plot allocation. "Usually, the area chief must receive payment otherwise the construction or improvement will not be sanctioned." In Kibera, Mukuru and Korogocho slums, these payments are Ksh18,000 ($225The report examines the notion of "fair rents," saying this ought to be seen from a wider perspective through the incorporation of the views of all stakeholders. However, it acknowledges that the concept is difficult to determine because "what is fair remains vague in many cases." In Kenya, rent for new premises, as laid out in the Landlord and Tenant Act, is largely determined by rents paid for comparable premises in the neighbourhood. It does not question whether such rents are fair or not. Overcrowding seems to influence rents in informal settlements in Kenya more than the law or the market, leaving tenants without an option for negotiation. One of the report’s observations is that since its inception, the Nairobi Collaborative Slum Upgrading Initiative has created awareness among both slum investors and tenants of their common plight. They are now seeking to actively participate in the acquisition of secure tenure and the improvement of their living environment. The rent study is crucial to the recently initiated slum upgrading process in that it highlights critical intervention areas. For one, it identifies services the poor in informal settlements need. "The poor consider affordability of accommodation close to places of work as being paramount." The poor also look for safety, toilets, bathrooms and water. It also calls for secure tenure in slums and offers the option of having the poor own the land they occupy on a communal basis. It also recommends compensation for slum landlords as an incentive to give up some of their units to help reduce overcrowding and allow in essential services. The report warns of the implications of upgrading slums, saying this might increase inequalities and lead to opposition by tenants, especially if they believe that rents will end up rising. The investors could also oppose such an initiative if they are required to meet some of the costs.
5 novembre 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS Call to release funds for slums Story by NATION Reporter Publication Date: 11/5/2004 The ministry of Lands and Housing has been urged to release the World Bank funds for the city slums. Local Government assistant minister Maina Kamanda said the slum upgrading scheme cash would help the schools to have decent buildings. He urged the ministry's director of housing to move with speed as the matter was urgent. "Students in these areas are suffering," he said. The bank and United Nations housing agency, Habitat, have provided money to upgrade slums in Nairobi. The project was launched by President Kibaki three weeks ago. The Starehe MP was speaking at Mathare Primary School on Wednesday when NGO Pathfinder International gave more than Sh300,000 to pupils. The donation was in the form of uniforms for more than 371 orphans, and would also be spent on repairing toilets and building a feeding centre. Pathfinder International programme manager Georgianna Platt pledged further assistance to the school, saying: "We shall liaise with the head to assist the school as much as we can." Mr Kamanda, the Starehe MP, described the donation as a good gesture that would complement government efforts at assisting the school.
28 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS EXTRA Families living in crippling poverty Publication Date: 10/28/2004 A new survey, whose findings were released on Tuesday, revealed that only three million Kenyans control the country's wealth. The rest, 27 million people, live in poverty or just above the poverty line. Nation's Lucas Barasa and Mumbi Murage talked to two of those who live in absolute poverty. Ms Mary Awino The last time Mary Awino had meat for a meal was on Christmas Day last year... at her brother's house. "I don't remember the last time I had taken meat before the visit. I even have no idea what it costs now," she said when we found her inside the hovel she calls home in Kibera slum, Nairobi, yesterday. But Ms Awino, 33, is not alone. She is among millions of Kenyans living below the poverty line and who can neither afford a balanced diet, a decent house, clean, piped water nor clothing. The Nation team found her breastfeeding her one-month-old daughter, named after former US President Ronald Reagan, as her son, three-year-old Derek, assisted in washing utensils. When she left her rural home in Kisumu in 1985, she had hoped to find a better life in the city. But she ended up in Kibera, one of Africa's largest informal settlement. Ms Awino joined her husband in manual jobs in neighbouring estates and hawking goods to make ends meet. But her life changed for the worse when he died in 2000. She tried her hand in hawking, investing Sh200 in her business, selling fruits and vegetables in the evenings. But she lost much money during hide-and-seek battles with city council askaris who frequently flushed out hawkers from Nairobi streets. Ms Awino has been thrown out of her hovel thrice because she could not raise the Sh500 rent demanded by the owner. But on all occasions, local chief Douglas Ouma came to her assistance. She said she spends about Sh800 "in a good month", including paying her rent. The family survives on a single meal of ugali and Sh10 worth of sukuma wiki (kales) or none, a day. Breakfast is not in the family's menu and they prefer taking lunch rather than supper "when things are good." But Ms Awino is happy that her children, James, John, Caroline and Monica now go to school, thanks to free primary education. They are pupils at Ayany Primary School. Mzee John Gatheru sits outside his two-room house watching his half naked children play in a pool of muddy water with sad eyes. The 68-year-old casual labourer in Nyeri District does not know where his family's next meal will come from. Mr Gatheru, a father of seven children aged between two and 14 years, was among hundreds of other families who were evicted from Government forests several years ago. Since he owns no land, Mr Gatheru depends on proceeds from casual jobs he gets in the neighbourhood. But with the prolonged dry spell that hit the region for several months, Mr Gatheru said such jobs were hard to come by and many were the nights when his children went to bed on empty stomachs. Despite the free primary education programme, five of his children are out of school. "The school may be providing books and equipment to the children but the headmaster will not have them in school in tattered uniform," he said. For every shilling he earns the hard way, a rich man gets Sh56. And whenever he spends 86 cents, his rich counterpart matches it by spending Sh44. Although he was aware that there was a wide gap between the rich and the poor, he did not have an idea, just how wide the gap was until he heard from the Nation team.
28 ottobre 2004	ANGOLA PRESS [www.angolapress-angop.ao] Luanda - Thursday, October 28 Report notes higher child deaths in Nairobi slums Nairobi, Kenya, 10/19 - Children living in Nairobi`s slums have a higher chance of dying before the age of five than those living elsewhere in the country, according to a programme documenting inequities in human development in the Kenyan capital. The Nairobi Urban Equity Gauge (NUEG) conducted by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) also notes marked inequities not in education and food security among slum, non- slum and rural sub-populations. The survey conducted in 47 city slums also puts the infant mortality rate among slum dwellers at 91 deaths out of every 1,000 live births compared with the national rate of 71. Releasing the findings Tuesday at a media workshop here, APHRC executive director Alex Ezeh said there is need for such data on urban populations, their habitations, livelihoods and health outcomes in order to inform public policy. "It is for this purpose that one of APHRC`s research themes focuses on clarifying the changing linkage between urbanisation, poverty and health outcomes in Africa," he explained. "The centre also focuses on critical and emerging population and health problems including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health as well as building research capacity among African scholars," Ezeh added. He said the centre`s work has shown that the rapidly growing number of poor residents in Nairobi, representing more than half the population bear a disproportionate burden of poverty and poor health outcomes than their rural counterparts. "Unlike in the developed world where urbanisation is largely accompanied by economic growth, Kenya and Africa at large is experiencing rapid urbanisation amidst deteriorating economies," he pointed out. This, he said, has led to a growing proportion of the urban population and the total population of Sub-Saharan Africa living in sprawling informal settlements characterised by lack of basic services and amenities, poor health and environmental conditions and congested and overcrowded settlements. He decried what he said was limited information on feasible strategies and cost-effective options for delivering health and social services within urban formal settlements. "It is projected that rapid urbanisation in Africa will continue and that more Africans will be living in urban areas than in rural areas in the next 20 or so years. Yet, many development policies in Africa continue to be guided by the belief that the poorest are found in rural areas, resulting in limited urban development," he observed.
27 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS Kenya, where the wealthy own it all Story by MUNA WAHOME Publication Date: 10/27/2004 Every time the poorest Kenyan spends his hard-earned 86 cents, his rich countryman matches this with own consumption worth Sh44. And a tenth of the population is gobbling nearly half the available resources, leaving the poorest 10 per cent to tough it out for a dismal fraction – only two thirds of one per cent (0.76 per cent). A freshly released report ranks Kenya among top 10 countries with obscenely unequal distribution of income. Kenya, in addition, is the fifth most unequal country in Africa, with the war-torn Sierra Leone and Central Africa Republic topping the pack. Three tenth of the population owns over 70 per cent of the wealth. For the bottom 20 per cent of the population, the little they consume could still be a privilege as 15 per cent of them die seven months ahead of their first birthday. Less than one third of the poorest 20 per cent have access to safe drinking water. If you happen to be born inside poor Nyanza Province, the likelihood is that you will die 16 years ahead of your agemates in Central. On average, those born in Mombasa should divide the life expectancy in Meru, at 68.6 years, by half to determine how long they can live. A foreword to the publication, penned by Planning minister Anyang Nyong'o and Swedish ambassador Bo Goransson, says this income distribution situation spells doom for the economy: "Without a conscious attention paid to issues of equity in public policy, rapid economic growth can easily marginalise certain sections of the society and exacerbate poverty for others. What is more revealing is that growth requires consumption and poor people are bad consumers!" The study, Pulling Apart: Facts and Figures on Inequality in Kenya, is meant to stimulate debate on the issue. It is collaboration between the government, Swedish International Development Agency and Society for International Development. On gender, the inequality leaves the women worse off. In the 20 to 24 cohort, 274,000 women living in urban areas are unemployed compared to 73,000 men agemates. While in Central Province 20,000 people share a doctor, a crowd of 120,000 has to make do with a single practictioner in North Eastern (NE). Every child in Central attends primary school and one out of three in NE. In NE , 93 per cent of women have no education and only three per cent in Central. In Central, some 79 per cent of the children are immunised. In Nyanza, only 38 per cent get the service. It leads in the child mortality rate with 133 deaths in 1,000 compared to 61 in the Rift Valley. Nyanza also has 15 per cent HIV infection rate in contrast to nearly zero for NE. In Nairobi, Kibera Division leads in affluence with poverty levels of eight per cent. Makongeni Only 23 per cent live above the poverty line in Makongeni, Makadara. The unemployment situation is not surprising given that only four per cent of the poorest 20 per cent ever reach secondary school. Inequality notably increased around 1994 according the report, at a time misuse of public resources went into high gear.
27 ottobre 2004	THE STANDARD Kenya has become a rich man’s country Wednesday October 27, 2004 By Tom Mogusu The richest Kenyans are getting away with the lion’s share of the national cake while the poor are getting poorer — and faster — according to a new report. The wealthiest 10 per cent are pocketing 42 per cent of the country’s income, while the poorest 10 per cent earn less than one per cent. The report, compiled jointly by the Society for International Development (SID) and the Ministry of Planning, paints a shocking picture of Kenya, where the gap between the rich and the poor is one of the widest in the world — and growing. And the inequality is not just between the social classes — where you live also determines your chances of getting Aids, having the opportunity to go to school, how soon you die and whether you will get a job or not. The report says the people of North Eastern Province have the lowest Aids prevalence, at only 1.3 per cent, as compared to Nyanza, where prevalence is 21.8 per cent. Children in Central Province are almost ten times more likely to get an education than those in North Eastern. Gross enrollment in primary school in 2002 for the former was 106 per cent, compared to 17.8 per cent for the latter. And though Kenya has had four decades of "development", little of it trickles down to the majority: Only 7.6 per cent have access to piped water, the rest draw it from rivers, wells and streams. And a massive 84 per cent live in darkness because they have no access to electricity. The situation is worse in the rural areas where almost the entire population — 95 per cent — cannot turn on the lights because electricity is unknown. In terms of health, where you live matters. North Eastern Province has only nine doctors — a doctor for every 120,569 people, compared to Central, for example, which has 190 doctors and a doctor for every 20,715 people. In terms of health institutions, a similar pattern of regional inequality is maintained. Nairobi, followed by Rift Valley, have the highest number. There is a health facility for every 5,000 people in Nairobi, compared to 14,000 in North Eastern. Where you live also determines whether your children are born in a hospital or at home. In Central and Nairobi, almost all children are born at a health institution, in most other places they are more likely to be delivered at home. In Nyanza, children are more likely to die before their fifth birthday than anywhere else in the country. Infant mortality in the province is 206 deaths of children under five years for every 1,000 live births. Nairobi is indeed "the city of many lights" with 71 per cent of its residents having electricity in their houses. In other places, such as Western, only 1.6 per cent of the people have power. And 53 per cent of Kenyans walk less than 15 minutes to fetch water, the rest walk longer distances. It is estimated that only 53 per cent of the households in Kenya walk for less than 15 minutes to fetch water. Nairobi, the report says, is a city of rent payers: Only 10 per cent of residents own their own homes, and only eight per cent of city residents own the land on which they live.
13 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION New housing project for city Story by WASHINGTON AKUMU and PATRICK NZIOKA Publication Date: 10/13/2004 A housing project to be financed by a US company to the tune of $7.1 million (Sh580 million) starts this December. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) is financing the project through JNP Properties, a company owned by Kenyan-American John Paul. The loan to JNP Properties will be used to build 400 low cost houses in Nairobi's Embakasi area. The signing of the deal in Washington last week was witnessed by Finance minister David Mwiraria, who was leading a top-level Kenyan delegation to the American capital. Mr Paul signed for JNP, while Opic was represented by its president and chief executive officer, Dr Peter Watson, a statement released by the two organisations said. The transaction follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Roads and Public Works minister Raila Odinga and Opic in June 2003, when the housing docket was in his ministry. Under the deal, the corporation undertook to develop Kenya's housing market and rural economy. The promoters say the housing venture, which has been branded Jopa Villas Kenya, is eventually expected to have over 5,000 units in Embakasi. "The units will feature modern security, parking, green spaces and recreational facilities of higher quality than those typically available for affordable homes. We want to ensure that affordability and housing quality become synonymous in Kenya," said Mr Paul. Occupants will be able to buy the units, which are expected to be ready by April 2006, under a long-term lease-for-purchase programme made possible by the Opic loan. At the same time, architects have dismissed the Kibera upgrading project as unfit for the low income earners it is supposed to benefit. The Architectural Association of Kenya chairman, Mr Gitau Mungai, said the project would fail just like others in Majengo and Mathare A4 because the two bed-room flats will be unaffordable to the slum dwellers. The end result will be to push them out of Kibera in favour of those who can afford the rents. The design has never worked anywhere in the world. It has only brought problems because the resultant rents will be higher than those of the previous units, they said. They criticised the movement of residents to give way to construction, saying this will disrupt their lifestyles. Consequently, the association has written to the minister for Lands and Housing, Mr Amos Kimunya, to voice their concerns, the chairman said. The architects were reacting to the inauguration of the Kibera slum multi-billion upgrading project inaugurated by President Kibaki last week and which is supposed to start soon. In the first year of the 15-year project, 770 families will move into new blocks of flats with all the necessary facilities like water, toilet facilities and electricity. The first phase is expected to cost Sh650 million. The Minister for Roads and Public Works who is also the area MP, Raila Odinga has already assured the residents the new houses would be affordable once complete. The beneficiaries will continue living in the slum for a year as they wait for the first 14 blocks of flats to be completed. At a press conference in his office yesterday, Mr Gitau proposed that the alternative would have been to provide the basic infrastructure the people need like streetlighting, water, sewer and toilets. It would then be followed by construction of inexpensive structures using cheap materials like mudblocks which would provide cheap but durable structures.
7 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS EXTRA Kibera scheme a test case in city planning Story by LUCAS BARASA Publication Date: 10/07/2004 Eric Makokha left his rural Kakamega home for Nairobi, hoping to find a nice job and a better life. Since he had no blood relative in the city, Makokha, 32, decided to stay with a brother-in-law in Kibera. After lunch, on his first day, he asked his in-law where he could answer a call of nature. Journalists and other visitors pass through a muddy section of Kibera: President Kibaki described the slum's upgrading as an opportunity to transform it from an eyeshore and shame into a model project. To which the other replied: "Here we have no toilets. Wait until darkness and I will show you where to help yourself." Although this scenario is part of a puppet show, it aptly captures the real dilemmas facing many residents of Nairobi's Kibera slums, venue of World Habitat Day celebrations, on Monday. Life in Kibera – thought to be Africa's biggest informal settlement – is pathetic. There are no toilets, drainage is poor and access is difficult and perilous due to narrow alleys. In real life, Makokha would most probably have been advised to use "flying toilets" – plastic bags that many of Kibera's 700,000-plus residents relieve themselves in, before hurling them into the night. Like Makokha, thousands of Kenyans flock to the cities, every year, in search of better life. The result is rapid urban population explosion that overwhelms all attempts by local authorities to provide basic services, such as housing, water and sanitation. According to Nairobi mayor Dick Wathika, almost half of Nairobi's population lives in slums. "Shortage of urban housing means that people move to the fringes – areas without infrastructure – where slums develop quickly," says Mr Jackson Mwaura, the National Housing Corporation's chief programme officer, in a report published in a United Nations-Habitat magazine. On Monday, the Government and Habitat unveiled a plan to improve informal settlements. Starting with Kibera, they plan to build modern houses and improve infrastructure in slums countrywide. When he inaugurated the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme, on Monday, President Kibaki said: "We have an opportunity to transform this place from an eyesore and a shame into a model project that can be duplicated in other parts of the country and the world." Besides better housing and land tenure, the programme will provide clean water, sanitation, education, health and security. It will also create jobs and income-generation opportunities, and social amenities. For a start, 14 blocks of flats and 770 units are to be built at a cost of Sh650 million, at Kibera's Soweto. All the 12 villages in the slum are expected to have been transformed in 10 to 15 years. The Government plans to build another eight blocks at Sh400 million. The hope is that thousands of Kibera residents will soon be moving from their hovels in the 235-hectare slum to modern two-bedroom houses with running water, electricity – and toilets. But will the poor Kibera residents benefit from the new houses? In the past, the well-to-do have found their way into decent houses meant for the poor in Nairobi and other towns. Some of the poor allocated the houses sublet them, built extensions to live in or moved to other lower-income estates and pocketed the rent. Mr Raila Odinga, in whose Langata constituency Kibera falls, and Lands and Housing minister Amos Kimunya say the residents will be settled in the new houses "at no extra costs". "They will pay the same rents as they are paying now," Mr Odinga said. Rents for the mud-walled and iron-sheet shacks range from Sh100 to Sh600. According to President Kibaki, the project will be implemented through "a people-centred approach". "A representative settlement executive committee composed of residents of the affected areas has been formed to work with the Government and the Nairobi City Council in planning and implementing the project," he said. Similar committees would be formed in other Kibera villages. Through this programme, Kenya joins South Africa and a few other countries that have built modern affordable houses for the poor. However, this is only part of the solution. It is rural poverty that is driving the influx into urban areas and uncontrollable mushrooming of slums in towns cannot be tackled without improving the conditions of rural residents. President Kibaki made the connection when he said that a balanced relationship between rural and urban areas would help improve the living conditions of rural populations and discourage rapid urbanisation. Cities absorb excess rural populations and offer markets for farm produce. Low-income rural dwellers also rely on urban-based non-farm jobs and money from migrant relatives. Rural settlements near cities are able to tap local urban markets. Sustainable development could be achieved only if rural and urban areas are considered inter-dependent, says UN-Habitat executive director Anna Tibaijuka. Africa, she adds, was now the fastest urbanising continent, and that, by 2030, half of its population would be living and working in towns and cities. This is why this year's theme – "Cities: Engines of Development – was particularly relevant to the continent. Poor employment prospects, inadequate development and provision of services in rural areas, poverty, civil wars and natural disasters had contributed to the rural-to-urban influx, she said. Urban economic growth, she said, would be self-sustaining and provide the level of opportunities required only if it depends less on the vagaries and ups and downs of international markets and rural development. "Let us not just make our cities the engines of growth," she said. "Let us ensure that this economic growth is carried into developing the rural areas." And as the Government tries to ensure better shelter and infrastructure for the urban poor, many Kenyans are waiting to see how the upgrading projects will work out.
6 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION EDITORIALS Build houses for the poor Publication Date: 10/06/2004 Two things used to stand solidly against all attempts to modernise Kibera, Mathare, Makadara and other "residential" eyesores in Nairobi. One was that most of the shacks belonged to very rich individuals who enjoyed direct links with all political decision-making centres. Kibera and Mathare, in particular, were political sacred cows throughout Kanu's 40-year administration. The second was that any attempt at "urban renewal" meant eviction of tens of thousands of residents. And it meant replacing their hovels with structures more permanent and, therefore, more costly to build. To recoup the expenditure, the tenants must be expected to pay considerably more in rent. The question was whether the poor individuals affected could afford the new rents. Experience from earlier "modernisation" programmes shows that the fate of these people never even entered the minds of our "developers". The moral imperative of "affirmative action" in their favour never arose. It didn't prod anybody's conscience to give these people priority for the new units erected at, for instance, Majengo and California. These were soon put through hire-purchase systems. The upshot was that these new units went right back to the wealthy - including the very same individuals who had owned the shacks. If the Kibaki Government has found a way of getting around the first problem - of breaking the power by which landlords held the Government to ransom in this way - excellent. Mr John Michuki's resolve against matatus [commuter minibuses] has shown that it can be done. He has proved that moral courage was what was so sadly lacking in the Kenyatta and Moi systems. On launching the modernisation programme on Monday, President Kibaki showed that he is aware of the second problem and promised that the new units would go at "affordable" rents to the people displaced by the process. But such pledges have hitherto been made only cynically. Greed is so intense in his own Government that, unless he personally steps into every stage of the process to ensure that these units go to those people, urban renewal will once again prove a cruel nightmare for Kenya's urban poor.
5 ottobre 2004	DAILY NATION New plan to transform Kibera slums Story by LUCAS BARASA Publication Date: 10/05/2004 Thousands of Kibera slum dwellers now have a reason to smile – they will soon leave their shanties and be settled in ultra-modern two bedroom houses. In the first year of the 15-year project, 770 families will move into new blocks of flats which will not only have running water, indoor shower and toilet facilities but also electricity. The multi-billion shilling project was inaugurated by President Kibaki in Nairobi, yesterday, during celebrations to mark the World Habitat Day. "We have an opportunity to transform this place from an eyesore and a shame into a model project that can be duplicated in other parts of the country and the world," the President told a mammoth crowd which turned up to witness the launch. The first phase of the project is expected to cost Sh650 million. A ground-breaking ceremony for the ambitious project is expected to be held today and construction will begin immediately. However, the first beneficiaries of the intended slum upgrading project will continue living in the slum for a year as they wait for the first 14 blocks of flats to be completed. The new buildings are expected to bring to an end the existence of Kibera slums – the largest in East and Central Africa, with a population of close to half-a-million people. Yesterday, President Kibaki, who was the chief guest during the global observance of the World Habitat Day, said all slums countrywide would also be improved. The UN chose Kenya as the venue for this year's World Habitat Day which is held on the first Monday of every October. Kibera was chosen as the pilot project because of its huge size and large population. The slum covers 235 hectares. Under the proposed project, residents will be able to access water, sanitation, education, health and security services besides securing employment and engaging in income generating activities. And to ensure there will be no conflict, President Kibaki said the Government would regularise ownership tenure. A committee of area residents has been formed to work with the Government and Nairobi city council to implement the project. In the last June Budget, the Government set aside Sh20 million for the Kibera project this year. Supplementary funding will be provided to build eight extra blocks of flats estimated to cost Sh400 million, the President said. He appealed to well-wishers for more money to help the country meet its Millennium Development Goals of improving the livelihood of those living in slums. He said Kenya faced a housing shortage of 150,000 units annually, up from 60,000 in the 1980s. Answering Roads and Public Works minister Raila Odinga, the President said area residents would be given priority in employment when building of the houses gets underway. He also assured the slum dwellers that the new houses would be affordable. Mr Odinga discounted the residents' fears that they would be moved to Athi River to make way for the project. "You will remain here (Kibera)," he told them. Lands and Housing minister Amos Kimunya said the Government planned to built 150,000 housing units in urban areas and 300,000 in rural areas annually. Forty five thousands of these units will be in slums. The UN-Habitat executive director, Dr Anna Tibaijuka, who read UN secretary-general Koffi Annan's speech, said sustainable development could only be achieved if rural areas were considered. Nairobi mayor Dick Wathika said one million of Nairobi's 2.5 million residents live in slums. Dr Tibaijuka also assured Kibera residents that her organisation had no intention of evicting and appealed for their patience and cooperation for the success of the project. A number of people including Mozambique President Joakim Chissano who was represented by Cabinet minister John William were rewarded for making significant impact on lives of disadvantaged people without access to basic needs like clean water and proper sanitation.
5 ottobre 2004	THE STANDARD Tuesday October 5, 2004 Kibaki gives Kibera a new face By Alex Kiprotich and Waweru Mugo President Mwai Kibaki yesterday kicked off the construction of low cost modern houses for thousands of slum dwellers in Kibera, Nairobi. He said similar housing projects would be launched in urban areas across the country under the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme. Fourteen blocks of flats with 770 housing units will be constructed at a cost of Sh650 million. He said the Government had set aside Sh20 million for the project this financial year, adding that more funds would be made available for the construction of eight blocks at about Sh400 million. "I appeal to development partners, local companies and organisations to consider financing the construction of at least one block of flats in the spirit of partnership," he added. Speaking during celebrations to mark the World Habitat Day, Kibaki said rapid urbanisation had pushed the housing crisis in the city to 150,000 per year from 80,000 in 1980. Kibaki assured the residents that the new houses would be affordable. He was responding to pleas by the area MP Raila Odinga who asked the government to ensure the rent for the new houses was not raised to lock out slum dwellers. The Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr Anna Tibaijuka was cheered when she said the current rates were exorbitant. Lands and Housing minister Amos Kimunya said Kensup was formulated to guide implementation of the National Housing Policy. The programme targets construction of 150,000 houses in urban areas and improvement of the quality of 300,000 units in rural areas.
13 aprile 2004	DAILY NATION EDITORIALS Demolitions were justified Story by Publication Date: 04/13/2004 One reason that the Kanu regime was hounded out of office was failure to plan adequately even for such basic social services as housing and roads. Informal structures were allowed to spring up on road reserves and under power lines despite the danger they posed to inhabitants. No wonder, it is now common for a motorist to veer only slightly off a road only to ram into somebody's bedroom. Cases abound where children are electrocuted by powerlines hanging just over their homes. A lot of water has since passed under the bridge. Narc's short stint in power shows its determination to succeed where its predecessor failed: demolition of illegal structures. As expected, however, its attempts have come against fierce resistance. Thus President Kibaki's Government has ordered that the demolitions be shelved. The latest protests came at the weekend from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which termed the demolitions a violation of human rights. Of course, to the extent that the Government has yet to offer an alternative for slum dwellers, this criticism is right. But what human right does the Government violate when it takes action against people who deliberately erected structures in illegal locations when they knew only too well it was against the law. Yet the mere service of demolition notices to the culprits, though right, helps pretty little. They usually are prepared to defy them, only to feign ignorance of the notices later. We, however, concur with the UN's position, made at the commission's 60th session in Geneva, that the Government should consult more widely on the matter. But this should apply only to the slums. The Government must get back to the drawing board and work out a plan for the promised upgrading project. As for the rest, it will be gross injustice that the Government has demolished multi-million-shilling structures belonging to some people only for the programme to be abandoned midway.
12 aprile 2004	DAILY NATION Monday, april 12, 2004 UN CONDEMNS FORCED EVICTIONS Demolition violated rights of slum dwellers, agency tells Government by Bernard Namunane A United Nation agency has condemned the demolition of structures in urban centres as a violation of human rights. The UN commission on Human Rights accused the Government of failing of implement a relocation plan before embarking on the forced evictions and demolition of structures in urban centres. But in a quick rejoinder, the Government defended itself saying the targeted people were informed in advance before bulldozers moved in to demolish the structures. A high ranking official of Kenya's mission to the UN commission on Geneva said the decision was taken because people were exposing themselves to danger by living close to power lines. "What should the Government do when people illegally settle close to electricity transmission lines posing danger to themselves and others?" the official posed. Evictions questioned But the commission's special rapporteur on adequate housing, Mr Miloon Kothari said the UN was only questioning the way in which the evictions were halted following a presidential directive. "The point I am making is that in these evictions, many innocent people are caught in between and most of them are children and women" he said. The UN views adequate housing as a component of the right to an acceptable standard of living. He urged the Government to design a clear plan that would give the victims alternative shelter before it evicts them. During the commions's 60th session in Geneva, Switzerland, he also appealed to the Government to consult widely before forcibly evicting people. Apart from Kenya, the session also heard of forced evictions in Afghanistan and Peru. On its part, the government assured the UN that it had halted the exercise in order to effectively plan its slum upgrading programme. The evictions in Kibera were initiated a year after the Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing signed a memorandum of understanding with UN/Habitat to upgrade one part of Kibera. Roads minister Raila Odinga halted the demolitions in the slums last month until an alternative settlement for the affected people was found. Raila renews threat But last week in Parliament, he told MPs that structures built on road reserves and many other public utility land will be demolished. If carried out as planned, the evictions will affect 354,390 people in Kibera alone, according to civil society estimates.
8 aprile 2004	DAILY NATION COMMENTARY Demolitions violate housing rights Story by NGUGI MUHINDI / Shelter Publication Date: 2004/04/08 Two recent events brought to light the critical issue about housing situation in the country. The first was the Government's announcement that it was stopping demolition of houses constructed on power lines and along railway lines. Significantly, the announcement was made at Nairobi's Kibera slum, where thousands of residents were likely to be affected by evictions. In the second one, the High Court granted an injunction to eighty eight applicants restricting the Kenya Railways Corporation from evicting them from their houses constructed along railway lines. The incidents should have sparked intense national debate for two reasons. First, they involved the rights of thousands of people. Second, they touched on the Government's obligations on housing. The first issue to address here is property rights and the rights of squatters. The property rights of land owners and the notion that squatters may have any rights over that land tend to conflict. However, since ownership is generally regarded as the most important and prominent of all real rights on land, squatters have no rights to protect them. Forcible eviction is, therefore, seen as the only solution to the ensuing conflict between the parties. The second issue is that unlike civil and political rights, social and cultural rights are little known or understood in many countries, including Kenya. The discourse on human rights has tended to revolve around civil and political rights. Yet at the core of forced evictions is the violation of a deeply entrenched human right; the right to adequate housing. Right from the inception of the United Nations in 1948 housing rights were recognised. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now considered as part of the customary international law applicable to all states, provided for the right for all to an adequate standard of living, including the right to housing. Later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provided that every one has the right to an adequate standard of living. Similarly, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child recognised the right to adequate housing. It is on the basis of the recognition of this right that more than a third of the world's countries, including South Africa and the Philippines, have included the right in their constitutions. Security of tenure for those living in informal settlements and protection from forced eviction are invariably some of the concerns addressed by those constitutions. Forced eviction has been defined by the UN as the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to appropriate forms of legal or other protection. The circumstances under which forced evictions are justified are well defined. These must be exceptional circumstances and the eviction may be carried out only in accordance with the recognised principles of international law. Besides, evictions are permissible only where three additional conditions are met. These are the promotion of the general welfare in a democratic state; are carried out in accordance with general provisions of reason; and that no form of discrimination is involved in effecting them. Every state that has ratified the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights has several obligations. First, they should refrain from evicting persons forcibly. Second, they should ensure that law is enforced against its agents or third parties who carry out forced evictions. Third, they have to establish an effective system of legal protection against forced evictions by taking certain measures which, include reviewing existing legislation. South Africa and Philippines are two among about 70 countries that have not only enshrined the right in their constitutions but have also ensured appropriate procedures and due process in relation to forced evictions. The South African constitution proclaims that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. It further provides that no one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished without an order of the court. Further, no legislation may permit arbitrary eviction. Under the Philippines Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 for example, evictions or demolitions can only be carried out when the general welfare is in issue; where specified government infrastructure projects are imminent or when a court order for eviction and demolition has been issued. These safeguards are important in that they are also designed to ensure that other human rights are not trampled or breached while forced eviction are taking place. These include the rights to life and property and the rights of children in the affected communities. In Kenya, we seem to have failed to reach a consensus on the right to adequate housing . No legislation exists to protect potential victims of forced evictions exists. This is in spite of the fact that Kenya is a signatory to the UN conventions on social rights. It is instructive to note that in the court ruling mentioned earlier, the ruling was based on sympathy for the affected persons rather than on the enforceability of their rights. This is because the country has failed to enact law that guarantees housing right. For a country that hosts the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the principal international body dealing with human settlements, this is scandalous. This is an area of the law where Kenya ought to be acting as a pace setter. *The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
3 marzo 2004	DAILY NATION NEWS Demolitions deadline extended Story by NATION Reporter Publication Date: 03/03/2004 Energy minister Ochillo Ayacko yesterday gave those with buildings near power lines 40 more days to demolish them. The 30-day deadline expired yesterday. The minister said President Kibaki had asked the ministry to extend the deadline "to enable government departments to help resolve the problem in a more humane way". Said Mr Ochillo: "As a government, we decided to give the evictions a human face after realising that most slum dwellers were not living there by choice. But we don't want them to endanger their lives by continuing to live in the places." The minister who was addressing journalists at his Nairobi office, said the action was also influenced by meetings he had held with councillors, MPs and church leaders from the affected areas. But the reprieve does not affect those with permanent buildings to which the Kenya Power and Lighting Company has started disconnecting supply. The minister said he would consider rerouting smaller power lines, but only if owners of the buildings agreed to foot the bill. But he clarified that his announcement and Roads, Public Works and Housing minister Raila Odinga's suspension of demolitions were a coincidence and not a follow-up or a contradiction. The Government last month started demolishing 300 petrol stations built on road reserves in the city, according to the anti-dumping task force. The owners had had defied orders to close them down. KPLC also disconnected supply to hundreds of houses and businesses in the city's Kayole and Umoja estates. At the same time, he said a joint committee was discussing ways to connect Kenya to the South African electricity pool.
29 febbraio 2004	DAILY NATION LETTERS Forced eviction of the poor is both immoral and illegal Story by Fr Gabriel Dolan Publication Date: 02/29/2004 The sight or bulldozers destroying mansions on road reserves elicited few cries of condemnation or messages of sympathy. We all became patriotic overnight, saying that it was pay back time for those concerned. We knew that the owners were now the losers, but they would not end up sleeping in the open as most of them had other property elsewhere. The civil society gave its blessings to evict, demolish and reclaim government roads, railways, electricity pylons, etc. In our excitement, we forgot that the next round of evictions might target the poor: Landless people in the rural areas and slum dwellers in urban centres. Asking questions about their future seemed to be spoiling the spectacle acted out on our TV sets on a daily basis. Human rights groups were happy to be photographed with the bulldozers, naively unaware that their unreserved support for demolitions would be used as the backdrop for slum clearance in Kibera and Kaloleni. Should the demolition of Kibera proceed as planned, in the next few weeks, we are likely to have a humanitarian disaster on our hands. The targeted population in Kibera is 60,000 and irregular evictions put their livelihoods at risk and considerably increase the likelihood of violence in the slums and adjoining areas. Structure owners will inevitably resist with force and the thousands of homeless will fight for new space to place their settlements and families. Roads, Works and Housing Minister Raila Odinga and the Government have a right to repossess and protect public property. But the government also has a moral duty to protect the most vulnerable of its citizens. Previous regimes allowed such informal settlements to spring up and grow. Kibera is one of the largest slums in this part of the world. Narc did inherit a legacy of squalor and endemic poverty in the slums. But the vote they received from the millions of Kenyans was a mandate to treat its people with dignity and respect. Arbitrary and forced evictions of the poor are both immoral and illegal. If the Government needs to repossess its land as a matter of urgency, then it has a moral duty to provide resettlement for the evicted. Slums may be an eyesore and an embarrassment to the new Government who would wish to portray a new image of Kenya to attract investors. However, they are a reality that is not of the poor people's making. They are a constant reminder of how the country degenerated in the past decades. A new Government cannot wipe out the poor in the flash of a bulldozer. It needs to restore their dignity and treat them with respect. That can begin by giving adequate notice, offering alternative settlements and consulting with the residents. The world is watching Narc’s bulldozers. How it handles the informal slum dwellers will show how committed it really is to democratic values, human rights and service to the poor. * Fr Gabriel Dolan - Catholic Justice and Peace Commission - Kitale