Slum residents left without a roof as bulldozers raze their homes

Last week, when bulldozers rolled into parts of Kibera, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest slum, many residents were still in their homes. Citizen journalists who run a news outlet covering the slum filmed the aftermath of the destruction, and interviewed the newly homeless.

Located near the heart of the capital, Kibera is a vast expanse of cramped ramshackle houses with rusted, corrugated tin roofs. Detritus litters the muddy byways, and basic services are lacking in some areas. Estimates put Kibera’s population anywhere between 170,000 and one million people.

This report, filmed by the citizen journalists of Kibera News Network, shows the demolition of Soweto East.

This report was filmed by Kibera News Network two days after the demolition of Soweto East.

“Many of the residents were caught by surprise”

Josh Owino is an editor at the Kibera News Network, a non-profit citizen journalism programme that reports on news coming out of Kibera. KNN is a part of the community project Map Kibera.

The demolition of Soweto East in Kibera was part of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme. When the authorities issued a warning that the land was to be razed, several of the neighbourhood’s residents decided to protest. They took the case to court, and the demolition was postponed until after the final hearing, which was scheduled to be held on January 17.

On January 12, the neighbourhood was torn down, despite the postponement. They just went ahead and did it. An estimated 5,000 people were affected. Many of the residents were caught by surprise.

“Some are sleeping by the side of the road; others are camped out in churches”

Although the government constructed housing for residents in Soweto East, not every one has chosen to relocate there. Many of the people who were already renting from ‘landlords’ moved in, but it’s much more expensive. In Soweto East, they were paying maybe 300 to 500 shillings [2.70 euros to 4.50 euros] per month for housing. In the new homes, they pay a total of 1,000 shillings [9 euros] per month. But they’re good houses, and the rent is subsidised by the government. The same homes at market value would cost about 3,000 shillings [27 euros] per month.

Those who chose not to live in the new housing were people who believed they owned their homes in Soweto East. They now demand to be compensated for what they lost in the demolition. They’ve asked the government to give them new land to build on. The government has said no, because the homes that were destroyed in Soweto East were on public land, and legally the ‘landowners’ had no right to build there in the first place. But there are people who have got no place to go. Some are sleeping by the side of the road; others are camped out in churches; while others still sleep at friends’ homes. It’s difficult to find a new place to live because there aren’t enough homes to meet demand right now.”

Comments

The Slum Upgrading

Submitted by Living in a Shanty Town. (not verified) on Tue, 31/01/2012 - 12:25.

I once wrote an article in a community journal, titled “Living in A shanty Town,” which was a letter to the Kenya Slum Upgrading Program, (KENSUP). KENSUP was step up in 2001; an inception inspired the Millennium Development Goal Number 7(d): “Improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.” I was one of the beneficiaries of the program, which I guess would classify me as a slum dweller. I am a resident of Kibera, one of East Africa’s largest slums, a Soweto East resident, and my structure was identified by the program as KSE/B/389/2. My article was basically an open letter seeking to give a slum dweller concerns to the upgrading project not captured in the plan.

In my open letter to the slum upgrading people, I pointed out the slum upgrading might not be the best way to improve the lives of the slum dweller, and that the proposed plan would essentially drive them to other slums. The proposed high rises were high cost and most people would not afford to pay for them, upfront or though the Co-operatives formed for that purpose. It also threatened to disrupt a community eco –system and that slum upgrading and low cost housing were not Synonymous The upgrading kicked off a couple of days ago, displacing 1000s of slum dwellers. When my friend called to inform me that the demolition had began we took a few minutes reminisce on the only home we had ever known, we are no under no illusion we cannot afford to come back.