!LONG LIVE NAIROBI ALIVE!

APPEAL FOR THE HOUSING RIGHT AND AGAINST THE NAIROBI DEMOLITIONS AND EVICTIONS

 		  

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English version

 

The Campaign

-The reality of slums in Nairobi

 

- The Present Emergency

 

- The text of Campaign

 

- Sign the Petition

 

- The list of those who subscribed the Petition

 
 - Photos from Nairobi...

- Articles from "The GuardiaN"

-Articles from Daily Nation

 

 

 

 

 

   
 The reality of slums in Nairobi :
 

The 55 per cent of Nairobi's residents live in informal settlements  that cover only 5.5 per cent of the city's land and are considered the worst in Africa.

Here Urban service are practically non-existent. These consist of earth roads and pathways, rudimentary drains and communal water points and pit latrines shared by as many as 60 people.

Korogocho in one of this slums. Its situation can help us to understand che condition of the other slums.

 

The example of Korogocho:

..

The area of Korogocho is 1 Km long and e 1.5 Km wide. Approximately 150,000 people live closed into 11,150 slums made of mud and rusty iron plates. These structures are temporary and not in accordance with the minimum standards. Each of these ‘houses’ has 5 or 6 rooms, with the ground made of soil - in the luckiest cases, of cement. In every room there is one family and each  person has a space of 20-25 square metres for his or her own housing needs.

 

The Government has provided the lighting in some streets but it usually does not work. A few services exist thanks to the activities managed and funded by some NGOs, missionaries or inhabitants themselves.

Violence is the main problem in the slums. Korogocho however has three particular features. The land, where it is built, is Government land –this is an unusual situation because land is indeed one of the claims of the slums. Furthermore, the inhabitants of Korogocho rent their shacks, while, in general, people own them. Recent surveys show that more than 65% of the residents pay the rent, 70% of them do not have any piece of land in their birthplace and 40% of the landlords do not live in Korogocho. This is a common situation among Nairobi’s slums, where, as a matter of fact, 55% of the population (2 millions out of 4 millions residents) is forced to live in 1.5% of the capital’s land.

This 1.5% of urban territory, where more than 2 millions of human beings are settled, does not belong  to the shanty-dwellers. Instead, it belongs to the Government, which, in order to raze everything, could evict people just with 48 hours notice.

 

Moreover, each basic social organization is forbidden and trying to solve the common problems is not allowed.

Korogocho is therefore a place of richness hold by few landlords, who live outside the slums and get into them just to collect the rents. This is the result of the loss of land, houses and villages. This is the weakeness of the identity characteristics and relationships, and the loss of the memory associated to a place.

 

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About Korogocho:

-Korogocho: The land and the people

 

-The Koroghoco you are not told about... 

 

  Kariobangi goes for a journey to life...      

 

-For Peace, they pilgrimaged...  

 

- Fr. Alex Zanotelli's page
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

  
 The Present Emergency

 

Without congruent notice, the Kenyan Government has decided a forced eviction for more than 330,000 people from Kibera and Korogocho, two of the most populated slums among the 168 of Nairobi. What will occur before next Easter is:   

 

  • The demolition of more than 20,120 constructions, populated by more than 108,000 people, in order to build a railway;

  • The demolition of more than 17,600 constructions, populated by more than 150,000 people, in order to build a highway;

  • The demolition of more than 3,255 constructions, populated by more than 76,100 people, in order to build an electric line.

 

We report that the Kenyan Government, has neither offered alternatives, nor compensations to these people, the poorest of the city, who live on precarious informal jobs and small businesses.

 
 
 
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 The text of Campaign

!LONG LIVE NAIROBI ALIVE!

APPEAL FOR THE HOUSING RIGHT
AND AGAINST THE NAIROBI DEMOLITIONS AND EVICTIONS


We denounce to the international community that the Kenya Government has decided to enforce the demolition of dozen of thousand of structures (shacks, schools, churches, community centers, clinics, shops, etc.) in few days time and with no proper notice, thus causing the forced eviction of over 354.000 people from Kibera, Korogocho, Kahawa Soweto, Kamae, Kware, Kamwanya, Kanguku, Kandutu, City Cotton, Mutumba, Kareru, Kirigu, Muria-Mbogo, Mutego, Njiku and others of the most populated among the 168 Nairobi slums. Other evictions are also expected to happen in the whole country.
Demolitions have already started and are going to affect:

  • more than 20.120 shelters where over 108.000 people live, located near the railway;

  • more than 16.800 shelters crowded with over 170.000 people, in order to build a bypass road;
  • more than 4.500 shelters placed near the electric line and occupied by over 76.100 people;

We denounce that until now, the Kenya Government has neither offered any alternative nor compensation to these people, the poorest among all the city dwellers, who precariously make a living in the informal sector and through small business.
We remind all that doing so, the Kenya Government badly violates the legal obligations stated by the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2, 7, 11, 12, 13 e 15) signed by Kenya on 3rd January 1976, as well as the Habitat Agenda and the Agenda 21, which provide for the obligation to find alternative solutions when evictions are unavoidable.
Thus, we join the international solidarity appeals launched by the Urban Parish Network in the Informal Settlements, the International Alliance of Inhabitants, the COHRE and others, so to give back hope to the poorest of the poor.
 

Send now your message to strongly request:

To the Kenya Government and the Nairobi Mayor

  • To comply with the obligations stated by the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
  • To immediately end all demolitions and forced evictions.
  • To open a real debate with all concerned communities in order to find acceptable solutions on limiting evictions to the most, reaching an agreement on possible relocations, granting suitable compensations to the evicted.
  • To develop a new public housing and urban policy starting from the protection of the housing right of all (housing security, planning, urban renovation, sanitation).
  • To appoint a coordinated and impartial body to be responsible for orderly and peaceful evictions.
  • To appoint an inter-ministerial consultative group to coordinate all plans related to evictions and demolitions that will take place in the informal settlements.
  • To provide immediate assistance to all those already evicted.

To the European Commission, Governments and European Bank of Investments:

  • To discontinue any funding to Kenya meant to build infrastructures related to forced demolitions and evictions, if conditions earlier stated are not respected.
     

To UN-Habitat:

  • To take immediate action in order to persuade the Kenya Government to accept proposals meant to reach suitable solutions for the protection of the housing right of all.
     

(TUKO PAMOJA)
(All together)

FIRST SIGNATORIES

Internazional:

Abbé Pierre (France), Alex Zanotelli (Combonians Missionaries, Italy), Cesare Ottolini (Coordinator International Alliance of Inhabitants, International), Cristina Almazan (UCISV-Ver, México), Don Alessandro Sartore (Comunità di Base delle Piagge, Florence, Italy), Giovani Impegno Missionario (Italy), Guillermo Rodriguez Curiel (Frente Continental Organizaciones Comunales, México), Jean-Baptiste Eyraud (Speaker DAL, France), Mons. Luigi Bettazzi (Bishop of Ivrea, Italy), No-Vox (International, Mons. Luigi Bettazzi (Vescovo Emerito di Ivrea, Italy), Renzo Fior (President Emmaus International), Vincenzo Simoni (General Secretary Unione Inquilini, Italy), Yves Cabannes (UN Advisory Group on Forced Evictions, Ecuador).

Kenya:

African Network for the Prevention and Protection of Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), Basic Rights Campaign, Carolina for Kibera, Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kituo Cha Sheria, Kutoka Network of Parishes in the Informal Settlements (Christ the King - Line Saba, Sacred Heart ? Dagoretti, Christ the King ? Embakasi, St. John?s ? Korogocho, Consolata Shrine ? Westlands, St. Joseph - Kahawa West, Holy Cross ? Dandora, St. Joseph and Mary - Shauri Moyo, Holy Mary Mother of God ? Githurai, St. Joseph the Worker ? Kangemi, Holy Trinity ? Kariobangi, St. Mary?s - Mukuru kwa Njenga - Our Lady of Guadalupe - Adams Arcade, St. Theresa?s - Eastleigh/Mathare Valley), Maji na Ufanisi, Pamoja Trust, Shelter Forum, Concern Wo

 


 

 

 

 

 For further informations:

 

- CAMPAIGN AGAINST FORCED EVICTIONS
IN THE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN NAIROBI

 

- LETTERS FROM SLUMS' EVICTION: URBAN PARISH NETWORK IN THE INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
 

- FROM CATHOLIC INFORMATION SERVICE FOR AFRICA (CISA)

 

- Speech by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Mr. Miloon Kothari, of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

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