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Poor families squatting on highway reserves bear the brunt of ambitious state plans for infrastructure. Affected areas include the slums of Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru kwa Njenga.
This year, the government allocated more than 120 billion shillings to develop roads, reduce traffic jams and increase rural road coverage.
In his State of the Union address on May 2, President Uhuru Kenyatta said: The country's infrastructure, Kenya can not hope to attract the necessary investment to create jobs and prosperity to overcome poverty. "When I took over as president, we promised to drive 10,000 km of roads across the country, we are on the right track, having traveled 3,000 km to date and 5,000 km more under construction. ", added Uhuru.
However, the issue of encroachment on roads, especially in slums, remains a headache for the government.
The agencies charged with undertaking the projects had to fight with hundreds of families living on road reserves. In most cases, orders have been issued by the courts to stop the projects.
The Nairobi District, for example, is home to one of the largest and most congested slums in the world, Kibera. The word Kibera is said to be a corrupt Nubian expression meaning "forest" or "jungle".
The shantytown was first a dense forest before the British government turned it into a military camp for Nubian soldiers, from Sudan and a fighter During the First World War
In 1918, Kibera was clbadified as a military reserve and the Nubian soldiers issued half-timbered shamba, which acted as temporary land permits for plots of land, where they settled with their families. people became the first settlers in the slum. But currently, they occupy only about 15% of Kibera
Kibera is home to a mix of ethnic groups, the latest UN estimates placing the population between 400,000 and 1.5 million people.
The government owns all the land in the slum. Ten percent of slum dwellers in the slum, and many who own several properties choose to rent them to the remaining 90 percent, who are tenants.
The average mud-enclosed shack measures 12 feet by 12 feet, with a corrugated iron roof and an earthen or concrete floor.
The average rent is about Sh700 per month. These shacks often accommodate up to eight people or more, and many people sleep on the floor.
Read: Corruption, mismanagement hinder Kenya's slum upgrading efforts – researchers
FACING EXPULSION
A storm is already brewing when the graders started working on the road that must cross the slum.
Ten schools will be razed, as well as thousands of houses, churches, dispensaries and cemeteries. Only two of them are public schools in a slum that has more than 50,000 schoolchildren.
Most children attend some 330 informal schools, according to Map Kibera, which digitally mapped the slum.
The road, known as the Missing Rope 12, will link the congested Ngong Road in Nairobi to the new South Bypbad
The link is one of 16 projects identified by the government in 2014 to reduce traffic jams in the city. The bypbad will cut 60m wide from the DC office to the Kibera South Health Center and then to Kungu Karumba Road. Read: Locals flee Kibera to escape expulsion
COMPENSATION CLAIMS
Development of the road began in 2010 but A section of the Nubian community of Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru requested the court's intervention, claiming that they would suffer losses from their ancestral lands and irreparable damage if the government was allowed to pursue justice.
This caused the High Court to issue orders preventing Chinese H Young Company – the contracted construction company to build the road – to demolish houses and other facilities on the way.
Extending orders in 2016, Judge Samson Okongo said the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission had not provided residents with another area to move into.
He stated that the planned construction work should wait The residents, through their lawyer Vincent Lempaa, also argued that the land is their ancestral land and their cemetery for many.
However, with renewed efforts to undertake the project, it is estimated that about 30,000 residents will be affected.
The government first gave residents two weeks' notice to leave their homes. The notice expired on June 16. But on Tuesday, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority announced that planned demolitions would start on Monday, giving more time to evacuees.
Among the facilities likely to be affected are the Egesa Children's Center. Founded in 2007 with a capacity of 185 students, and self-help group Makina, founded in 1982 with about 300 students.
Other are the Makina School and Baptist School, founded in 2003 with 260 students, Mashimoni School, established in 1975 with 200 students, and PEFA Church, Nursery School and Clinic, established in 1974 with 250 students.
Also on the ground for the demolition are Love Africa's Slum Outreach Ministries International Church and School, established in 2006 with 340 students, New Horizons Secondary School, founded in 2014 with 186 students, and Mashimoni Squatters School, founded in 1986 with more of 775 students.
John Kheboi, Kura's communications officer, said the construction of the 2.5-km road is almost complete, but the works have been slowed down by the encroachment into the corridor. He said that there was only 800m left.
However, the project encountered protesters seeking compensation or transfer to another property.
Residents barricaded roads and burned tires, demanding the project. to be arrested pending negotiations. They stated that the planned demolitions were illegal and constituted a violation of their rights.
President Shaffie Ali accused the state of having issued the eviction notice in defiance of a court order. He said that they are not opposed to evictions, but that they are only fighting for compensation.
Resident Samuel Oketch said, "Any attempt to demolish our homes will face stiff resistance. I stayed here for over 10 years. "
More on this: Agencies agree to compensate Kibera residents threatened with expulsion
Read more: We will fight for the land, the people of Kibera make vow
HUMANE & # 39;
Kibra MP Ken Okoth, in support of residents, said that he had petitioned the Ministry of Roads to ensure that families are reallocated and compensated equitably
citizens affected by development projects and guidelines.I therefore call on CS Roads to ensure that affected people are relocated in a humane manner ", he told the Star.
But the authority maintains that the affected people will not be compensated, a stand supported by the National Land Commission. and the National Human Rights Commission of Kenya
Abigael Mbagaya, Vice President of the NTC, said that only the owners of the structures on the 10 acres would be compensated by the Resettlement Action Plan . Most residents have built structures on the land and the NLC will not compensate them. All we will do is pay the occupiers in good faith, "she said.
KNCHR's Kagwiria Mbogori said the mapped area, about 10 acres, was occupied by structural owners, but that will not prevent the project from continuing. "Rejecting claims the road will affect the 288 acres allocated to the Nubian community, Mbogori said the entire segment belongs to the government.
" The project will go from there. ;before. The Constitution of Article 40 provides that those occupying land without title can be compensated in good faith. This is not the first time for such an experience in the country, where citizens have settled on land for infrastructure development, "she said.
She says that even in cases where title deeds "
" The only tricky question was that people be expelled in a humane way, "she said.
Kura, deputy director in charge of structures speaking at the same time an advisory forum between Kura, NLC, KNCHR and residents, he said that the encroachment on land intended for the development of the road remains one of the problems that the authority has to solve. with the implementation of such projects.
The meeting agreed that Kura engineers and NLC officers be deployed on the ground to set guidelines and document all the details of those to be moved before demolitions begi n
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