Slum dwellers’ quest for good homes

By Ferdinand MwongelaAs you come into Kibera from Lang’ata Road, rusty grey iron roofing sheets spread out across the open land contrasting sharply with the red tiled houses behind you. Welcome to the land of the shanties and home of the poor, or in political-speak, ‘Wanjiku’s’ abode. For slum dwellers, the provision of quality housing is still a fantasy. Housing prices in conventional estates are prohibitive and promises of affordable housing have just been talk.Millions of Kenyans live from hand to mouth and basic facilities like shelter have been relegated to the realm of luxury. In the 1980s, the Government, in collaboration with the National Housing Corporation, made attempts to provide housing for the slum residents of Pumwani’s Majengo estate. The first phase, however, was encumbered by claims of unfair distribution, a cloud that continues to hang over all other such slum upgrading projects to date.A view of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Project (Kensup) in Kibera. Photos: Evans Habil/StandardPeter Karuri lives and works in Majengo and he still remembers the uproar that met the allocation of this first phase wrought over Majengo. "The allocation brought with it a lot of problems," he recalls. "People whose houses had been demolished to pave way for the construction of the new buildings did not get any houses."Residents of Majengo and Pumwani — where the flats were built — claim some of the houses were given to people outside the target group, which was the slum. In the second phase, however, which was completed in 2005, majority of the allotees came from the designated area although there were still cases of unprocedural allocation.James Ruitha, the National Housing Corporation Managing Director, concedes that some people did not get units in the first allocation but they were given first priority in the second phase. "Those who missed out in the first phase got houses in the second phase," he maintains.An official who worked on the project agrees. "We allocated houses based on a waiting list that was drafted earlier," he says. "The houses were not just being sold to anyone."Karuri disagrees. "Not everyone who was assured of a house got one," he claims. As the housing deficit continues to bite, especially among the lower-income cadre, the Government has come up with yet another noble idea — to upgrade selected slums in the country. CollaborationThe Kenya Slum Upgrading Project (KenSUP) was a collaboration between the Ministry of Housing and UN Habitat. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on February 15, 2003 in which the project, estimated to cost Sh883 billion, would provide housing for 5.4 million Kenyans.The greatly hyped Kibera slum upgrading project is a fruit of this collaboration. The new two bedroom units, complete with modern amenities, are expected to improve the living conditions of the residents of the largest slum in the country and gradually phase out the shanty structures. Each individual unit is projected to cost the Government approximately Sh800,000 to construct, which is also going to be the selling price.The news of this slum upgrading project was initially greeted with enthusiasm. However, as the dust slowly settled, the reality kicked in and Kibera residents began to doubt their ability to come up with the selling or letting price of the units, which will inevitably, be higher than the rents they currently pay. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing, Tirop Koskey, insists Kibera residents should stop worrying since the rents they will pay for the new residential units will be similar to what they are paying now, which ranges between Sh800 and Sh1,500."The units will be ready for occupation as soon as a sewer line currently under construction is complete," he says. The Minister for Housing, Soita Shitanda, further assures Kibera residents that only genuine residents will benefit. However, residents of the slum are still sceptic."Are we really going to be able to afford these houses?" asks Jackline Apondi. She lives near the new houses and questions their feasibility. "If you look at how we live, how can we maintain living in those houses? Even if we are given loans, how will we repay them when most of us don’t have steady jobs or earn regular income?" she poses. "I don’t know how and when we will be moved into the houses. All I’ve heard is that we shall pay what we are paying now."In addition, Apondi is unsure of the procedures towards securing a unit, pointing to a possible lack of information among the residents, reminiscent of the scenario that characterised the Mathare 4A slum-upgrading project, which was launched in 1992 following an agreement between the Government of Kenya, the German Government and the Amani Housing Trust of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. UncertaintyThe residents were be encouraged to buy the new units — constructed with stabilised soil blocks — through a tenant purchase scheme. Those who could not purchase the units could rent the houses at affordable rates.Problems, however, arose when the slum residents complained that they had been left out in the decision making process. Clashes between the residents and the church erupted over issues of management, procedures governing the allocation of the houses and uncertainty over their residency status in the upgraded houses. "We did what we could," says Fr Carlisto Nyagilo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. With the first phase, he says, a section of the residents forcibly took over some of the houses and started charging higher rent than what had been agreed. These ‘landlords’ failed to remit returns to the housing trust.Phase two has been beleaguered with several challenges, including the withdrawal of the funding agency. However, with the formation of the Kenya Slum Upgrading project, the housing trust is in the process of handing over the Mathare 4A project.MeasuresKoskey on the other hand insists that Kibera residents have warmly embraced the project. The development of low-cost housing is continuing to receive both local and international attention. In December last year, an American company, Harambee Heritage LLC, offered to assemble pre-fabricated houses for low-income Kenyans in a bid to meet the huge demand."At the end of the day, it is the responsible of the Government to provide housing for the poor," says Dan Arum, a marketing assistant with Tysons Limited. "Players in the real estate sector are in it to make money so providing housing for the low income group is not really their core business. The group we tend to target more is both the middle and high income groups."Arum believes the Government should do more to provide housing for the poor. "The Government should put into place measures that will ensure houses constructed for low income earners go to them."

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