Nairobi's Housing Crisis: an Analysis of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU Honors Theses, 1963-2015 Honors Program 2004 Nairobi's Housing Crisis: An Analysis of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme Peter Ehresmann College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Ehresmann, Peter, "Nairobi's Housing Crisis: An Analysis of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme" (2004). Honors Theses, 1963-2015. 409. https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/409 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses, 1963-2015 by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NAIROBI’S HOUSING CRISIS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE KENYA SLUM UPGRADING PROGRAMME A THESIS The Honors Program College of St. Benedict/St. John's University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Distinction “All College Honors” and the Degree Bachelor of Arts In the Department of Political Science by Peter D. Ehresmann May, 2004 Ehresmann Approval Page Project Title: Nairobi’s Housing Crisis: An Analysis of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme Approved by: -Project advisor, Dr. Gary Prevost _________________________________________________ Professor of Political Science -Reader, Dr. Jeff Anderson _________________________________________________ Associate Professor of Peace Studies -Reader, Dr. Ron Pagnucco _________________________________________________ Associate Professor of Peace Studies -Department Chair, Dr. Phillip Kronebusch _________________________________________________ Chair, Department of Political Science -Director of the Honors Thesis Program, Dr. Richard White _________________________________________________ Director, Honors Thesis Program Ehresmann NAIROBI’S HOUSING CRISIS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE KENYA SLUM UPGRADING PROGRAMME Peter D. Ehresmann Advisor: Gary Prevost, Department of Political Science St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN 56321 May 2004 Nairobi, Kenya is one of the most volatile urban centers in Africa, suffering from 60%1 of its population living in crowded and poverty-stricken informal settlements around the periphery of the city. Efforts to upgrade Nairobi’s slums have been attempted by the Government of Kenya (GoK) for decades, using different theories and strategies ranging from forced eviction and demolition to the current Sustainable Livelihoods Approach that claims resident participation as its hallmark. A new initiative based on this strategy entitled the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP), headed in partnership between the GoK & UN-Habitat, is focusing initially on Kibera – East Africa’s largest slum of over 700,000 residents. Specifically, the KENSUP’s starting point is a “village” of Kibera called Soweto, which has a population of approximately 60,000 residents and is considered the poorest section of Kibera informal settlement. This current venture is entitled the Soweto Slum Upgrading Project (SSUP). On paper, it appears to offer a plausible solution. However, upon interviewing Kibera’s residents, key NGOs, UN-Habitat, and the GoK, it is clear that there is a lack of coordination, dialog, and cooperation between the stakeholders of this project. This combined with more enduring factors, such as the lack of clear national polices on land tenure and allocation, and Kibera’s dominant political power structure that has strong economic incentives to maintain the status quo, suggest that this large-scale slum upgrading project will not be successful, while smaller and more localized self-help efforts provide a brighter alternative. 1 Nairobi Situation Analysis written for the Government of Kenya and UN-Habitat by Syagga, Paul M., Winnie V. Mitullah, and Sarah Karirah Gitau, 2001, 35. Ehresmann i In memory of Nicodemus Mutemi, who was one of several residents of Kibera who graciously shared their lives and settlement with me as I struggled both to understand the dynamics and forces at work in their communities, and to briefly join them in solidarity on the rough road towards a more dignified life. Rest in Peace my brother. ii Ehresmann 1) Kibera informal settlement: Nairobi, Kenya (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann Ehresmann iii 2) Typical path and open ditch sewer in Kibera, Nairobi (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann iv Ehresmann 3) One of the few wide roads in Kibera, Nairobi (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann 4) Main Kenya Railway track to west Kenya lined with informal shops, Kibera, Nairobi (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann Ehresmann v 5) Pit Latrine along a stream in Kibera, Nairobi (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann 6) Kibera Highrise, Nairobi (July 2003) –Photo: Peter Ehresmann vi Ehresmann Contents List of Acronyms………………………………………………………………………..ix Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..x KENSUP Timeline in Brief..……………………………………………………….….xii 1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...1 2.0 A Snapshot of Kibera Today.………………………………………………………...….....7 3.0 Historical Context of Kenya’s Slum Policies and Upgrading Initiatives……………...13 3.1 1963-mid 1970s: Slum Clearance………………….…………………..….……...15 3.2 Early 1970s: Provision of Minimum Services………………………………..….18 3.3 Mid 1970s: Self-Help via the Site and Service and original Slum Upgrading Schemes…...20 3.3.1 Failures of Site & Service Schemes in Kenya……………….………..….22 3.3.1.1 A Non-Conventional Site and Service Case Study: The Huruma-J Cooperative Housing Group…24 3.3.2 Failures of early Slum Upgrading Schemes…………………...……....…26 3.4 The 1980s: The Enablement Approach and Structural Adjustment Programmes.27 3.5 The 1990s: What is Slum Upgrading today?……...………...………………......30 3.5.1 Lessons from four Slum Upgrading Initiatives from the 1990s…….........31 3.5.1.1 Early-mid 1990s: Kibera Highrise/Nyayo Highrise……………32 3.5.1.2 1989-2000: Mathare 4A – A Case Study………..….……...…..34 3.5.1.3 Mid 1990s: Voi, Kenya – The Tanzania-Bondeni Project......…38 3.5.1.4 1997-2001: The Kibera Urban Environmental Sanitation Pilot Project…39 3.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………….…….……..41 4.0 The new Initiative: The Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP ) & The Kibera-Soweto Slum Upgrading Project (SSUP) ...44 4.1 2000-Present: The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) Approach to Slum Upgrading....45 4.2 Objectives of the KENSUP and the SSUP…………………...………………….47 Ehresmann vii 4.3 Background………….…………….…………………………………..…………..51 4.4 Institutional Structure………….………………...………………………………53 4.5 Funding ……………………………….…………………………………….……..55 4.6 Favela Bairro, Rio de Janeiro: A comparative slum upgrading programme…....56 4.7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………...……….57 5.0 Stakeholder Analysis……………………………………………………………………..59 5.1 Tenants ……….………...…………………………………………………………60 5.2 Structure Owners………….……………………………………………………...68 5.3 The United Nations Human Settlements Programme: UN-Habitat…………...73 5.4 The Government of Kenya (GoK)……………………….…………………..…..76 5.5 Local Authorities: Chiefs and the Provincial Administration…………………82 5.6 The Nairobi City Council (NCC)……………….………………………...……...84 5.7 The Nubian Community……………………………………………………...…..89 5.8 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)………………………………..……90 5.8.1 NGO Concerns……………………………………………..…………….92 5.8.2 The Multi-Stakeholder Support Group (MSSG)………………………....93 5.8.3 Other Interests…………………………………………………………....95 5.9 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)…………………..………………….97 5.10 Christ the King Church, Kibera-Line Saba …………………...…………...…99 5.11 International Donors…………………………………………………...………100 5.12 Private Sector in Housing……………………………………………...………102 5.13 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………105 6.0 Critical Analysis of the SSUP: Factors working against the Project……..…….……107 6.1 Kenya’s Culture of Corruption…………………………………………………107 6.2 Kibera’s Dominant Political-Economic Power Structure………….…………110 6.3 Community Participation in the SSUP……………………………...…………114 6.3.1 The Argument for Participation in the SSUP ………………………..…114 6.3.2 Potential Participation via the Settlement Project Implementation Unit (SPIU)….118 6.3.3 A Critical look at the GoK’s use of Participation in the SSUP………....127 viii Ehresmann 6.3.4 The Athi River Controversy………………………………………….....132 6.3.5 The Grassroots Response……………………..…………………..……137 6.4 The KENSUP’s Information Vacuum and Poor Media Coverage…………...140 6.4.1 Confusion on the KENSUP and SSUP timeframes…….…………..…..141 6.4.2 The SSUP’s Media Coverage………………………………………..….144 6.4.3 The Pre-Planned Kibera-Soweto Slum Upgrading Project (SSUP)….....151 6.5 The KENSUP’s Site Selection Controversy…………………………………....156 6.5.1 Kibera-Soweto should not have been ranked second………………...…159 7.0 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….162 8.0 Suggestions and Alternatives…………………………………………………….……..170 8.1 Actively Engage Youth (30 years of age and under)……….………………….176 8.2 Secure Land Tenure must be included in the SSUP and KENSUP………….178 8.3 Alternative Strategies………………………………………………………..….178 8.4 Future Research…………………………………………………………………179 9.0 Methodology and Acknowledgments…………………………………………………..181 9.1 Weaknesses of this Analysis…………………………………………………….182 Appendix I: KENSUP Press Notice, 8 August 2003………..………………………185 Appendix II: KENSUP Consultancy Ad, 8 August 2003…………………………..186 Appendix III: Front page of the East African Standard on 8 August, 2003……...187 Sources Cited ……………..………………………………………...………………..188 Ehresmann ix List of Acronyms CBO –