Residents worried as court allows demolition of Nairobi’s oldest estates

Samuel Ngige sits outside his small house in Shauri Moyo estate with his hands resting on an old sewing machine. The 78-year-old man has lived here since 1978, having moved from Saba Saba in Murang'a County when his wife got a job with the then Nairobi City Council. His one-roomed house is one of six in a block located in one of Nairobi’s oldest housing estates.

Mr Ngige, and thousands of other residents, could lose their homes anytime soon thanks to a court ruling that cleared the way for the Government to demolish the houses and build more than 5,000 new ones as part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s affordable housing agenda.

On Monday, High Court judge John Mativo ruled against a group of civil servants who wanted to stop the project, arguing that they had nowhere else to go and had not been involved in the plans.

Legal obligation

Mr Mativo said the Government had no legal obligation to source alternative accommodation for residents.

“We have been hearing about the plans to demolish these houses from people like you. I know the former Nairobi governor (Evans Kidero) had come here with those plans but the people refused. Our children were born in this estate. This is the only home they know. Where do they go from here?” Ngige asks, pointing to a semi-permanent structure adjacent to his house belonging to one of his daughters.

Mativo’s ruling will have far-reaching consequences for people who are emotionally attached to this and other old estates in Nairobi’s Eastlands.

For instance, Caroline Wanjiru, who was born here in 1964, remembers nostalgically the days when she walked to the neighbouring Kamukunji grounds to listen to the nation's first president, Jomo Kenyatta.

She also recalls how love blossomed here as she points to a house where her husband (now deceased) was born.

“I was born here, grew up here and got a husband here. This estate had order when I was growing up. There were street lights and clean tap water. The city council used to fumigate the area against mosquitoes. Now that is history. The place has degenerated due to lack of maintenance,” she says.

For Justin Eshirungo, a 22-year-old musician, the thought of losing the place he calls home is unbearable. Although he has only lived here since August last year, his family members have occupied the house since the estate was built in the 1930s.

The first to occupy the house was his grandfather, who was born in 1918. He died in 1997. Thereafter, his father, uncle and a cousin have stayed here.

“This house has helped most of my family members, especially those who finish college in Nairobi. Looking for a job is stressful enough without adding the burden of looking for rent in other Nairobi suburbs. Bus fare is not an issue since you can walk to the city centre,” says Mr Eshirungo.

He knows he cannot stop the planned regeneration of city estates. In fact, he says the redevelopment will help to clear the garbage, recarpet the nearby roads and regularise the unplanned semi-permanent structures that have blocked access to the houses.

His main concern is whether he will be among the new homeowners.

“We are worried because we do know the terms of constructing the new homes. No one has ever explained it to us," he says.

The young musician has had opportunity to entertain guests in State House during national holidays. He has a special message for the current occupier of the house on the hill.

“Mr President, before you demolish the homes, please find an alternative place where we can go as the new homes are built.”

An older generation that has lived in these estates feels the Government ought to consider how Africans came to occupy them before carrying out the planned demolitions.

Among them is Kuria Kirima, brother of the late city tycoon, Gerishon Kirima. He came to Nairobi in 1955 as a 21-year-old bachelor. He has lived in Makadara and Bahati, and is currently in Kaloleni.