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

Caroline Wanjiru, who was born and raised in Shauri Moyo City Council houses, express fears on the planned demolition and rebuilding of the entire estate by the government. [Pius Cheruiyot/Standard]

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.