DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: The Challenge of Going from Slum to Suburb

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Oct 5 2004 (IPS) - It is a task that would make all but the most stout-hearted quake: transforming a slum containing some 500,000 inhabitants into an area where people can live with dignity.

Nonetheless, this is exactly the challenge that the Kenyan government and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) have set themselves in Kibera – often referred to as “Africa’s biggest slum”. The settlement, which covers 235 hectares, is located on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital – Nairobi.

The Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme, a joint project which got underway in January 2003, will involve the construction of 14 blocks of flats and 770 housing units in Kibera. It will also ensure the provision of basic services such as water and sanitation.

Improvements in other informal settlements across the country will follow suit, in a process that is expected to take 10 to 15 years.

On Monday, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki joined UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka in Kibera to highlight the challenges facing this and other urban communities. The event formed part of celebrations to mark World Habitat Day on Oct. 4.

The theme of this year’s ceremonies, ‘Cities – engines of rural development’, was intended to focus attention on the fact that the fates of urban and rural areas are closely linked – not separate, as many might suppose.

Large-scale migration to cities as a result of rural poverty leads to the proliferation of slums, for example.

“We wish to remind policy makers around the world that sustainable development can only be achieved if rural and urban areas are considered part of an inter-dependent, mutually reinforcing economic and social order,” Tibaijuka told the crowd that had gathered in Kibera for the World Habitat Day ceremony.

Michael Arunga of the Shelter Forum, a regional non-governmental organisation, agreed. “This linkage has been lacking for a long time and policy makers have been planning in isolation of the rural areas. These two are interlinked and affect one another,” he said Tuesday, in an interview with IPS.

In a message to mark World Habitat Day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that that the “fastest growing” urban areas of the future would probably be smaller, outlying towns.

This could be seen in a positive light, said Annan, as it would slow the creation of so-called “mega-cities”, which have overwhelmed the ability of local governments to provide services and amenities.

Delegates at Monday’s ceremonies noted that improving the prospects of smaller towns also held out the possibility of improved rural productivity, particularly within the informal sector which is Kenya’s biggest “employer”.

“About 70 percent of our labour force is currently employed in the informal sector, and (they) account for more than 20 percent of our gross domestic product,” Kibaki said.

However, Annan also noted that investments in the transport and communications infrastructure of smaller towns would be needed to ensure that they dealt with the rural influx properly.

Kenyan officials say they’re already tackling the rural-urban divide.

“We have a plan that ensures production of 300,000 housing units in the rural areas annually. Already programming has begun, and we have identified 16 rural towns across the country in which the houses will be built,” Amos Kimunya, the minister for lands and housing, told IPS Monday.

“These towns will be developed and people allowed to spread across them to decongest urban centres,” he added. “In (urban centres), we have undertaken to build 150,000 houses. With these figures, you can see that prominence has been given to rural areas.”

As important as this debate was, however, it was the prospect of new housing that really seemed to inspire Kibera residents interviewed by IPS.

“I cannot wait to reside in a clean environment. I have lived in this filth for 40 years, without toilets and bathrooms; an old man like me showers outside,” 70-year-old Peter Mworia said, pointing to his small mud-walled home – located beside a heap of decomposing garbage.

Other residents of Kibera have accused government of excluding them from discussions on the slum ugrade.

“It is more of a government-owned process…than that of the people affected. We have teamed up with human rights organisations to lobby the government to let us own the project,” Dalmas Owino, secretary of the Kibera Rent and Housing Forum, told IPS. However, in an interview with IPS earlier this year, Patrick Bucha – assistant director of housing at the Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing – denied this allegation.

Concerns have also been raised about the financing of the slum upgrade. About eight million dollars will be needed to build housing in Kibera alone – of which only five million has been sourced.

The hope is that donors will step in to provide the balance of funding. However, foreign governments appear increasingly concerned about the level of corruption in Kenya – and may be reluctant to do so.

Last month, Britain’s ambassador to Kenya, Edward Clay, accused the Kenyan government for the second time of being lethargic in fighting corruption. He first made the criticism in July.

The United States’ ambassador, William Bellamy, has also alleged widespread public corruption in Kenya. In spite of this, the International Monetary Fund has resumed lending to the East African country – this after freezing all aid in 2000, in response to unchecked graft.