Tension in Kibera over Sh7 billion Kenya Railways compensation

Nairobi, Kenya: Tension has intensified in Kibera, Nairobi over unfair allocation of houses meant for compensation by the Kenya Railways Corporation.

The residents claim discrimination in the Sh7 billion World Bank sponsored project, arguing that project managers appointed by the corporation have taken over the allocation process, blaming them for using corrupt means to dictate who are to be allocated the houses.

Tax Force Committee Chairman Julius Owidi said landlords who had structures in the railways reserve have been exempted in the compensation list, whereas their tenants have been given priority. “It is impractical to compensate the tenant, leaving the owner of the house even if he an absentee landlord. Without the landlord, there would be no tenant,” said Mr Owidi to The Standard on Saturday.

Owidi said the project managers have ignored the position of landlords in the relocation process, yet the Government fully recognises them: “We have invested and work to realise the Government’s dream of providing low cost houses. In fact, the project managers are not even stakeholders of this project.”

The Final Report for the Relocation Action Plan acknowledges that all affected structures along the rail belong to Project affected Persons (PAPs). These are owners who either have some form of occupancy rights to the land, some of whom are absentee owners, tenants or those who are leasing or renting the structure from structure owners. World Bank clearly stated that PAPS are entitled to compensation whether they have a title deed or not.