Tenants of condemned buildings in Huruma won't leave

Defiant tenants living in unsafe buildings in Huruma have dared the Government to evict them.

They have made it clear that unless the State compensates them with at least Sh10,000, they will stay put despite the dangers involved.

In one of the condemned buildings, a few metres away from the one that collapsed last month killing 52 people, a group of five women were busy going about their chores.

Two were making bead ornaments; the others plaiting the hair of their toddlers oblivious of the green bulldozer crashing another seven-storey building across.

"We need to be paid to move. It is not like we are moving into a relative's house or back to our rural home," said Anastasia Kambua who was seated in the squeezed balcony of the six-storey building. Her house is on the first floor.

The mother of three said it would be unrealistic for her to move out when the landlord himself had not evicted her.

"If the landlord says I move out I will, but until then, let the bulldozers come. I have no other place to go anyway," she said.

Her neighbour, Catherine Mwende, holds the same view with a strong message that if the Government does not release any funds to facilitate her relocation, no one should hasten her to move out.

The six-storey building that houses them has been marked with an 'X' and vacate sign meaning it has been found unfit to live in.

Its main door cannot fit two mid-sized persons and the lighting is so poor that as early as 2pm in a bright afternoon, one has to use a torch to see his steps on the worn out stairs lest he falls.

"Even if I ask the landlord for my deposit, I would not be given. If they are demolishing almost all buildings in Huruma it is practically unsafe to move into any building in the same area," said Ms Mwende.

On the ground floor of the building, Joseph Mutua has opted to close his shop. "But I have to get somewhere better since I have already lost customers," he said.

However, some caretakers and landlords have resorted to repainting their buildings to cover up the demolition signs. The demolition targets some 226 buildings in Nairobi.

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