Kibera (
NubianThe Nubian language group, according to the most recent research by Bechhaus-Gerst comprises the following varieties:# Nobiin ....
:
Forest or
Jungle) is a
neighbourhoodA neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members....
and province division of
NairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters"...
,
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
. It is the largest of Nairobi's
slumA slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
s, and the second largest urban
slumA slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
, with an estimated population of between 600,000 and 1.2 million inhabitants. The slum is located roughly 5 kilometers southwest of the city centre of Nairobi. Encompassing an area of 2.5 square kilometers, Kibera accounts for less than 1% of Nairobi's total area, but holds more than a quarter of its population, at an estimated density of 2000 persons per
hectareA hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for measuring land area....
.
Kibera (
NubianThe Nubian language group, according to the most recent research by Bechhaus-Gerst comprises the following varieties:# Nobiin ....
:
Forest or
Jungle) is a
neighbourhoodA neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members....
and province division of
NairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters"...
,
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
. It is the largest of Nairobi's
slumA slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
s, and the second largest urban
slumA slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
, with an estimated population of between 600,000 and 1.2 million inhabitants. The slum is located roughly 5 kilometers southwest of the city centre of Nairobi. Encompassing an area of 2.5 square kilometers, Kibera accounts for less than 1% of Nairobi's total area, but holds more than a quarter of its population, at an estimated density of 2000 persons per
hectareA hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for measuring land area....
. The neighborhood is divided into a number of villages, including Kianda, Soweto, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba, Siranga/Undugu, Makina and Mashimoni.
History
Kibera originated as a settlement in the forests outside Nairobi, when Nubian soldiers returning from service in the First World War were awarded with plots there in return for their efforts. The
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
colonial government of the time allowed the settlement to grow informally, primarily because of the Nubians' status as former servants of the British crown, which put the colonial regime in their debt. Furthermore the Nubians, being "Detribalized Natives" had no claim on land in "Native Reserves". Over time, other tribes moved into the area to rent land from the Nubian landlords.
After Kenya became independent in 1963, a number of forms of housing were made illegal by the government. The new ruling affected Kibera on the basis of land tenure, rendering it an unauthorized settlement. Despite this, people continued to live there, and by the early 1970s
landlordLandlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
s were renting out their properties in Kibera to significantly greater numbers of tenants that was permitted by law. The tenants, who are highly impoverished, cannot afford to rent legal housing, finding the rates offered in Kibera to be comparatively affordable. The number of residents in Kibera has increased accordingly despite its unauthorised nature. By 1974, members of the
KikuyuThe Kikuyu are Kenya's most populous ethnic group. 'Kikuyu' is the Swahilized form of the proper name and pronunciation of Gĩkũyũ although they refer to themselves as the Agĩkũyũ people....
tribe predominated the population of Kibera, and had gained control over administrative positions, which is kept through political patronage. Certain land owners are protected by the local government largely due to their Kikuyu ethnicity.
Presently, Kibera's residents represent all the major Kenyan ethnic background, with some areas being specifically dominated by peoples of one tribe. Many new residents come from rural areas with chronic underdevelopment and overpopulation issues. The multi-ethnic nature of Kibera's populism combined with the
tribalismThe internal social structure of a tribe can vary greatly from case to case, but, due to the small size of tribes, it is always a relatively simple structure, with few significant social distinctions between individuals. Some tribes are particularly egalitarian, and most tribes have only a vague...
that pervades Kenyan politics has led to Kibera hosting a number of small ethnic conflicts throughout its century-long history. The Kenyan government owns all the land upon which Kibera stands, though it continues to not officially acknowledge the settlement; no basic services, schools, clinics, running water or lavatories are publicly provided, and what services do exist are privately owned.
Slum upgrading
Kibera is one of the most studied slums in Africa, not only because it sits in the centre of the modern city, but also because UN-HABITAT, the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
' agency for human settlements, is headquartered close by.
Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moon is the current Secretary-General of the United Nations succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he graduated from college,...
visited the settlement within a month of his selection as UN secretary-general.
Kibera, as one of the most pronounced slums within Kenya, is undergoing an intensive
slum upgradingSlum upgrading consists of physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements undertaken cooperatively and locally among citizens, community groups, businesses and local authorities....
process. The government, UN-HABITAT and a contingent of NGOs, notably Maji na Ufanisi, are making inroads into the settlements in an attempt to facelift the housing and sanitary conditions.
There are three significant complicating factors to construction or upgrade within Kibera. The first is the rate of petty and serious crime. Building materials cannot be left unattended for long at any time because there is a very high chance of them being stolen. It is not uncommon for owners of storm-damaged dwellings to have to camp on top of the remnants of their homes until repairs can be made in order to protect the raw materials from would-be thieves.
The second is the lack of building foundations. The ground in much of Kibera is literally composed of refuse and rubbish. Dwellings are often constructed atop this unstable ground, and therefore many structures collapse whenever the slum experiences flooding, which it does regularly. This means that even well-constructed buildings are often damaged by the collapse of nearby poorly constructed ones.
The third complicating factor is the unyielding
topographyTopography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
and cramped sprawl of the area. Few houses have vehicle access and many are at the bottom of steep inclines (which heightens the flooding risk). This means that any construction efforts are made more difficult and costly by the fact that all materials must be brought in by hand.
Clearance
On 16 September 2009 the Kenyan government, which claims ownership of the land on which Kibera stands, began a long-term movement scheme which will rehouse the people who live in slums in Nairobi. The clearance of Kibera is expected to take between two and five years to complete. The entire project is planned to take nine years and will rehouse all 2 million slum residents in the city. The project has the backing of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
and Prime Minister
Raila OdingaRaila Amollo Odinga is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads, Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005...
, who is a local MP, and is expected to cost $1.2 billion. The new communities are planned to include schools, markets, playgrounds and other facilities. The first batch of around 1500 people to leave the slum were taken away by truck on 16 September 2009 from 6.30 am local time and were rehoused in 300 newly constructed apartments with a monthly rent of around $10.
The project start has been postponed several times as PM Odinga was unavailable to oversee the first day. He was joined on the first day by Housing Minister
Soita ShitandaSoita Shitanda is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to New Ford Kenya and was elected to represent the Malava Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya. Soita has represented Malava constituency since 1997, after he ousted the then, Minister of Health, Mr. Joshua Angatia in the general election,...
and his assistant
Margaret WanjiruMargaret Wanjiru is a Kenyan politician. She belongs to Orange Democratic Movement and was elected to represent the Starehe Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007....
with all three assisting residents with loading their belongings onto the trucks. Also present were several dozen armed police officers to oversee the arrangements and to deter any resistance.
The process has been legally challenged by more than 80 people and the Kenyan High Court has stated that the government cannot begin demolition works until the case is heard in October, but will be able to demolish the homes of people who leave voluntarily before then. The 80
plaintiffA plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s are a mixture of middle-class landlords and Kibera residents and they claim that the land in Kibera is theirs and hence the government has no right to demolish the shacks. The Nubian community, who have lived on the land for nearly 100 years are also disappointed with the scheme and one elder has said that the present housing should be improved instead.
The project has also come under fire from urban planners who say that it risks repeating the mistakes of previous schemes - poor families either shared two-roomed apartments with one or two other families in order to pay the rent, or sub-let them to middle-class families and moved back into the slums. Workers earning a
minimum wageA minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion...
in Kenya make less than US$2 per day. There is also controversy over the timings of the project with the first phase, rehousing 7,500 people, being delayed by five years and one government official stating that if the project continues at the current pace it will take 1,178 years to complete.
Geography and culture
Kibera is located in southwest
NairobiNairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi Province. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters"...
, roughly 5 kilometers from the city centre. Much of its southern border is bounded by the
Nairobi riverNairobi River is a river flowing through the Kenyan capital Nairobi. It is the main river of the Nairobi river basin, a complex of several parallel streams flowing eastwards. All of the Nairobi basin rivers join east of Nairobi and meet the Athi River, eventually flowing to the Indian ocean. These...
and the Nairobi Dam, an artificial lake that provides drinking water to the residents of the city. It is estimated that between 600,000 and 1.2 million people live in Kibera, with a
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
of 2000 residents per
hectareA hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for measuring land area....
. Kibera is divided into a number of
villageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in...
s, including Kianda, Soweto, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Laini Saba, Siranga/Undugu, Makina and Mashimoni.
The
Uganda RailwayThe Uganda Railway is a historical railway system linking the interiors of Uganda and Kenya to the Indian Ocean at Mombasa in Kenya.- Origins :...
Line passes through the center of the neighbourhood, providing passengers aboard the train a firsthand view of the slum. Kibera has a railway station, but most residents use buses and
matatus to reach the city centre;
carjacking' is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction, which did not...
, irresponsible driving, and poor traffic law enforcement are chronic issues.
Kibera is heavily polluted by human refuse, garbage, soot, dust, and other wastes. The slum is contaminated with human and animal feces, thanks to the open
sewageSewage is water-carried wastes, in either solution or suspension, that flow away from a community. Also known as wastewater flows, sewage is the used water supply of the community. It is more than 99.9% pure water and is characterized by its volume or rate of flow, its physical condition, its...
system and the frequent use of "
flying toiletA flying toilet is a facetious name for the use of plastic bags for defecation, which are then thrown into ditches, on the roadside, or simply as far away as possible....
s". The lack of sanitation combined with poor nutrition among residents accounts for many illnesses and diseases. It is estimated that one-fifth of the 2.2 million Kenyans living with
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
live in Kibera.
Kibera is home to the popular
Olympic Primary SchoolThe Olympic Primary School is a government-run primary school in Kenya. It is located in Kibera, a slum district in the capital Nairobi. The school was established in 1980. Over the ensuing years the school was successful in national examinations and thus attracted pupils from all social classes,...
, one of the leading government schools in the country. There is a community radio station, Pamoja FM.
External links