New Life for Kibera Residents as Slum Upgrading Takes Off

By NewsfromAfrica

photo by Eric sande

For years, residents have lived in muddy iron sheet-roofed hovels with no proper sanitation. Residents have resorted to relieving themselves in polythene sheets, populalry known as “flying toilets”, which are then thrown away with little regard to where they will land. A few lucky ones, however, visit public pay toilets, parting with as much as KES 3 ($0.2) which is way beyond the reach of most residents.

But that is not all. Perennial water shortage is the order of the day and electricity is in short supply. Consequently, some unscrupulous residents have resorted to illegal tapping of electricity and water connections, a scenario which has led to violent confrontations between the residents and the power and water distribution companies.

Due to the overcrowded nature of the slums, crime, prostitution and drug abuse are rampant. Not even frequent raids by security agents have managed to restore sanity.

However, a new initiative by the Kenyan government in collaboration with the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (UN-HABITAT)is set to give Kibera a new face. Dubbed slum upgrading project, the initiative has already put up permanent flats for the slum dwellers only a few metres from their hitherto tiny shacks. The two-bedroom flats have electricity and running water, a stark contrast to the shacks previously occupied by the slum dwellers. The houses have also been fenced to ensure adequate security.

Mark Kisilu, a resident who has been living in the slum for the past two years, said that he was happy with what the Government is doing and he is looking forward to moving into the new houses, an exercise which begins today under the supervision of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is also the area MP.

This slum upgrading project has also provided employment to some of the people living in the slum as they have been offered jobs in the construction sites.

As it is, the slum upgrading project is set to improve the living standards of the residents. With the provision of clean drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities, the frequent epidemics in Kibera will be a thing of the past.

Despite the noble goal, the project is facing resistance from some of the residents who do not want to move into the new houses. The Nubians, who claim they are the original inhabitants of Kibera have refused to move from their houses for fear of losing the rent they charge to tenants as well as claiming that the move is against their customs that demands that they live with their extended families in one house. Fears also abound that the new houses may prove unaffordable to the slum residents who live on less than a dollar a day.