Today, Kenya joins the world in celebrating the World Habitat Day whose theme is; voices from the slums.
While Kenya is ranked a middle income country, World Bank statistics show that 4 in every 10 Kenyans live below the poverty line (earning less than Sh85 per day). An estimated 30 per cent of Nairobi residents live in slums. Another 55 per cent of the urban population lives in informal settlements.
It is estimated that the level of urbanisation will have reached 44.5 per cent with an estimated 16.5 million people living in urban areas by next year; this comes with mixed fortunes, particularly for the disadvantaged urban majority.
The African Development Bank (ADB), through its Kenya Country Strategy Paper (2014-2018), notes that although Kenya has experienced economic growth over the last decade, it has not been sufficiently inclusive as evidenced by persistent high levels of poverty, regional disparities, and limited access to basic services, inequality and unemployment.
The strategy attributes the lack of inclusion to skewed distribution of income and property; past skewed resource allocation policies and the concentration of productive economic activity within a small formal sector employing relatively small numbers of people but accounting for large economic returns and incomes. With an average of 55 per cent of the urban population residing in the informal settlements, achievement of inclusiveness remains a mirage.
One of the threats associated with urbanisation is unemployment. Statistics show 80 per cent of unemployed Kenyans are aged between 15 and 34. Given that the vast majority is resident in informal settlements, there is real potential for explosion.
It is important to note that policy, governance and mechanisms necessary to lay a good foundation for sustainable urban development are yet to be formalised.
The recently established Urban Development Committee of the Council of Governors has its agenda well cut out; starting with prompting the county governments to establish the Urban Boards as envisaged in the Urban Areas and Cities Act of 2011.
The national government and the counties must rise to the occasion and reduce the number of people living in dehumanising conditions in slums.
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