Former Kibera landlords cry for justice

By Patrick Mathangani

For the last three years, landlords dispossessed of their houses in the city slums have tried in vain to reclaim them.

Last week’s visit by International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo has rekindled hope for justice for victims, especially those kicked out of their homes in slums.

It is said nearly 1,000 landlords lost their houses to tenants who do not pay rent and have defied all efforts to remove them.

The landlords say their lifetime investments have been plundered and accuse the Government of doing little to remove the illegal tenants and to promote peaceful co-existence among different communities.

Enquiries by The Standard on Saturday established that sharp ethnic rifts in slums, which escalated during the violence, are yet to be mended. However, non-governmental organisations and community groups are running several peace-building programmes.

Josiah Maningi at his former rental houses. Photo: Andrew Kilonzi/Standard

Sources said ICC investigators and officials visited the slums last week to meet residents and enquire on the cause of the violence.

"They were here for three days last week," said an official of a community-based organisation in Kibera, who asked not to be named.

"They wanted to understand how we live and why the different communities don’t seem to like each other."

Kibera and Mathare slums erupted in violence and looting in December 2007, soon after President Kibaki was announced winner in elections disputed by ODM.

In the ensuing melee, dozens of people were butchered, homes and property set ablaze as rival groups clashed. Scores of people took advantage and moved in to the houses left behind and have refused to leave.

Elusive unity

Worst affected by the ‘house snatching’ was Kibera. The violence spread to other parts of Nairobi, including the city centre, but it was among the poorest residents that it was felt most.

Before the violence, Mr Josiah Maningi owned 26 rental houses and ran a cooking gas business. However, marauding groups of youth attacked his shop, carted away items as others stormed into the houses and divided them amongst themselves.

"Look at me now," said Maningi, showing a printout of items he lost in the violence.

"I have no means of earning a livelihood. It pains me to see people living in my house and they don’t pay a cent."

He says his business was worth more than Sh400,000.

He continued: "Kibera is an island where no law applies. These people appear to be protected by very powerful forces in Government."

Maningi is chairman of Kibera Structure Owners Association, which was formed in 2008 to spearhead a campaign for the return of the grabbed houses.

He says they have been to many Government offices, where promises to evict the illegal tenants were made only to be broken at the eleventh hour.

Although he reported the matter to the police and gave them an inventory of his stolen property, none has ever been recovered or culprits brought to justice. The organisation has more than 700 members, most who lost property and houses.

Today, he is too scared to even go near the houses.

Residents said two vigilante groups called Siafu (safari ants) and "Yes We Can" have been protecting the tenants by threatening anyone who dares ask for rent.

Counting losses

Some of the new occupants have rented out the houses.

Others, like Elizabeth Wanjiru Macharia, fled the slum and went to live with relatives. Out of 35 people who forced their way into her rental rooms, only six have been paying rent.

A former civil servant, she says she used all her retirement benefits to build the houses on a plot she had occupied for three decades. In her hurry to escape the violence, she did not carry away any of her belongings.

"Recently when I went to check, I peeped in and saw that one of the families is using my household items as if they were their own," she said.

However, the problem of ‘house snatching’ is not new in the volatile slum. Way back in 2001, residents said some people stopped paying rent when retired President Moi and local MP Raila Odinga held a rally and declared rent charged was too high.

The then Nairobi PC Cyrus Maina was tasked with forming a committee to review rent. However, scores of tenants took advantage of the two leaders’ comments and refused to pay any more rent.

Waiting for justice

A project by the physical planning department and the Ministry of Lands to demarcate the plots as well as provide basic amenities and infrastructure was put on hold. The slum had already been surveyed.

"We would like the Government to come and help us get back our houses. Many people fear for their lives and may never come back," said Mr David Maeke, the treasurer of another group of victims known as Kibera Shelter Community Based Organisation. Maeke lost his 33 rental houses and his car was burnt at the height of the violence.

"The houses were taken with the support of politicians. That’s why it has been difficult to reclaim them," said Mr Kennedy Miheso, secretary of the umbrella Kenya Tenants Welfare Union.

Miheso said the issue could create another historical injustice at a time when the country is striving for truth, justice and reconciliation.