Kenya loses opportunity to save billions in slum upgrading

By Dann Okoth

The Government has squandered an opportunity to save billions of shillings and create employment for tens of thousands of youth in slum upgrading projects.

The country would have saved half the amount it spent in the project had it adopted the in situ slum upgrading system as suggested in the original Kenya Slum Upgrading Project report the Financial Journal can reveal.

The in situ slum upgrading system entails a participatory approach between slum dwellers and developers. In China, the approach has seen millions plucked out of poverty through improvement of their living conditions — and job creation.

The high population growth rate in Nairobi and major urban areas has continued to be associated with many socio-economic and environmental problems. While the population of Nairobi is five million according to the latest census, those living in inadequate housing constitute 50 to 60 per cent.

The State has earmarked Sh880 billion for slum upgrading projects across the country in a 15-year plan to replace slums with affordable housing, but experts say the cost would be far much less had the State involved slum dwellers in the construction process.

"The cost would have been far much less had the Government adopted a participatory approach to slum upgrading," says Prof Paul Syagga of the department of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Nairobi and co-author of the UNCHS/GOK Slum Upgrading Project: Nairobi Situation Analysis report.

"It would have been ten times cheaper, for instance, in Kibera slums, where 10,000 units would have been upgraded at a cost of only Sh1 billion.

The project would have entailed using cheap but durable building materials and labour from the slum dwellers.

"In this approach, what was required of the Government was to service land (install water, electricity and road infrastructure)," he says.

Already the Government has spent a whopping Sh2 billion to relocate 1,000 households to the decanting site in Langata in phase one of the Kibera slum upgrading project co-funded by UN-Habitat, the government and other donors. The project is expected be completed in seven phases.

Reasonable standards

According to Syagga, it would cost Sh100,000 to upgrade each plot in Kibera to transform the 10,000 units in the slum into accessible, adequate and to reasonable standards of sanitation as provided in the Constitution under economic and social rights.

"However, the government opted to go for corporate slum upgrading where they hoped to provide the slum dwellers with two bed-roomed flats," he says.

The project also presented an opportunity for the Government to create many job opportunities for the youth by involving them in the upgrading project, but that opportunity has also gone with the wind as the State adopts private sector-oriented approach.

In China, for instance, slum upgrading has transformed millions of lives with hitherto poor apprentices transformed into employers after they were absorbed in the housing upgrading scheme.

But what exactly is a slum? A slum household is a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area, which lacks access to water, sanitation, secure tenure and durability of housing. Thus slums can either be planned (usually degraded inner-city tenements) or unplanned settlements.

Provision and management of infrastructure and urban services is necessary for economic development and urban livelihoods.

Components of infrastructure and services include: water supply, sanitation, drainage and refuse collection, public transport, access roads and energy supply, health, education and financial services.

For more than two decades, infrastructure development and service provision was undertaken with hardly any consultation with residents.

As population increased and resources became scarce, coupled with weak and inefficient government institutions, infrastructure development and service provision deteriorated. This resulted in the call for partnership approaches to provision of services. Development of infrastructure and provision of services requires huge capital investment, which the central government and local authorities on their own can hardly afford.

It is in light of this that in situ slum upgrading envisages a public-private partnership in slum upgrading.

Indeed with the adoption of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, poor living conditions in unplanned urban settlements were put on the global development agenda

"It is regrettable to note that upgrading programmes are being undertaken in a policy vacuum. The Kenya Slum Upgrading Project and Kenya (KENSUP) and Kenya Informal Settlements Project (KISIP) are devoid of clear-cut policies," he says.

He notes that where relocation must take place, it is vital to do so through a negotiated approach in favour of community led initiatives to avoid conflicts, safeguard the livelihood of the poor and ensure sustainability.

"It is also important to note that only 10 per cent of the slum can be re-located at a given time," he says.

The whole concept of slum upgrading notes the University of Nairobi don is to improve lives through provision of affordable housing.

Syagga says the upgrading project should be wholesome taking into consideration social and economic aspects of residents as well as environment.

"This kind of approach was applied in estates like Dandora, Mathare 4A and Umoja where the government provided services land complete with road infrastructure, water and sewerage services, and electricity at very low cost to the exchequer."

He notes that it is disturbing to note that the Kibera slum upgrading project is already experiencing hiccups with residents in he decanting site trooping back to the slum and progress being halted by a court injunction.

Living conditions

"We are talking about a population of over half a million people. But if their living conditions were improved they would more stable, productive and an asset to the nation," says Syagga.

But where we go wrong policy-wise, China, also a developing country like Kenya, seems to have all the answers.

To help the Chinese urban low-middle-income households with poor living conditions and form a housing security system, China is stepping up efforts to develop affordable housing.

By January this year more than 10 million Chinese households in poor living conditions had realised their dream of living in a decent home.

China launched the large-scale housing programme in 2007. Since then low-income households have been guaranteed of decent houses through low-rent housing.

China reached an unprecedented scale of affordable housing in 2008. In the second half of that year the central government stepped up the speed of building houses.

"2009 was crucial for speeding up housing development," says GU Xiaorun Third Secretary Information and Public Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi.

Back in Kenya, lack of clear-cut policies and lopsided priorities by the authorities appears to be our Achilles heel.

"Clearly the Kibera slum upgrading was not done with proper policies," says Jeremiah Owiti, Director at Centre for Independent Research in Nairobi.

"The glaring policy gaps are evidenced by the fact that the project can not hold just a few years after its inception. The most unfortunate thing is that the implementers forgot they were dealing with human beings with livelihoods and other social aspects tied to their lives," he adds.

According to the policy expert the way forward for the Government is to engage policy experts to draw a new plan not only for Kibera but also for the whole country.

And according to Charles Kamau, an economist in Nairobi, the Kibera story is an unfortunate event of missed opportunities.

"We have seen what happened to the Nyayo High-rise saga just within Kibera itself and we should have learnt our lessons," he says.

He notes that at no time will the Government or the corporate world successfully address issues affecting people in the slums.

"They talk about involving the communities but it has not worked. The approach should be the other way round, where they let the community come up with their own solutions," he says.

Perhaps the biggest point here is whether the countrywide slum upgrading would propel this country into achieving middle-income level and if so what approach should best be applied.