Fire victims wonder where they'll go as deadline to move out of camp reaches

Disaster response team counter check donations from well wishers, meant for Kijiji fire victims, housed at Ngei Primary School in Langata, Narobi. [David Njaaga,Standard]

Victims of the Kijiji slum fire are wondering where they will go as the deadline to move out of Ngei Primary school approaches.

The victims, many who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said their houses had not been rebuilt despite the Government offering Sh70 million assistance.

Rebuilding plans have sparked tension as residents accuse the authorities managing the camp where they sought refuge after the fire of unfair distribution of relief resources.

Landlords told Metropolitan that they had been given only eight iron sheets and four poles.

“How can eight iron sheets and four poles build a house? I have had to buy more materials,” said a house owner only identified as Peter.

On Monday, two residents told Metropolitan of numerous conflicts between them and the camp managers. They accused the leaders of giving out the relief resources to strangers.

“Stealing begins from 8pm with irons sheets being thrown over the wall. A Land Cruiser has also been spotted ferrying goods out of the camp,” said one of the residents.

They said when they asked the area chief what was going on, they were told that the vehicle was taking some of the food to victims of a recent fire at Raila Centre.

“What aid is taken at 10pm? And what aid is taken from one victim group to another?” questioned the residents.

Man confronted

In a video recorded by one of the Kijiji fire victims camping at Ngei Primary School, a man in the company of two others said to be workers in the kitchen is confronted by the residents, who question why he is being given iron sheets yet he is not a fire victim.

In defence, the man lashes out at the crowd, saying he got the materials from the chief. One of the men carrying the iron sheets sustains a deep cut on his hand during the incident.

In another video recording, the residents accost a woman carrying iron sheets and tell her to return them because she is neither affected nor a landlord in Kijiji.

The woman claims she got the iron sheets as payment for her services in the kitchen.

Two police officers - a male and a female - come to her defence.

“Why are the kitchen workers being paid with materials meant to help us?” question the residents in the video clip, which ends abruptly as a police officer tries to snatch a phone belonging to a woman thought to have been recording the incident.

But the woman insisted she wasn’t using her phone at the time.

“There is so much going on behind the scenes at the camp. The authorities are not giving those affected by the fire the aid that is coming in before pinching a little for themselves,” said another resident.

The residents now want the county government to help with the distribution of relief items to ensure that only genuine victims benefit.

“The houses will not be enough because we have to leave space for the roads, but now even the materials are being taken away,” said Peter.

Lilian, a mother of two, wonders where she will go with her son since her landlord has not begun putting up any houses.

“We are in a meeting now and I hope they address the issues of dishonesty and corruption witnessed here. I have two young sons and I am wondering where they will go if I don’t find shelter,” she said.

At around 9pm on Sunday, January 28, a huge fire swept through the Kijiji slum in Lang’ata, leaving five people dead and more than 6,000 homeless.

Fire engines

Residents struggled to put out the fire, made worse by delayed fire engines that finally arrived with inadequate supplies of water.

The Kijiji residents could only watch as everything they owned went up in flames despite efforts to put out the fire using sewage water.

Camera footage during the fire showed children running around crying as they looked for their parents while adults stood and stared in disbelief, some with tears flowing down their cheeks, as their property turned to ashes.

''It was like fighting in hell; it was like hell," said Maryam Mohamed, who lost everything in the fire.

"This is the toughest day of my life but I trust that God will provide for me," she said.