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Amnesty International condemned the demolition of homes, shops and schools this week in the Kibera section of Nairobi. Forced eviction has left more than 10,000 homeless urban poor, as authorities build a road through the region to relieve the notorious traffic of the Kenyan capital.
However, Amnesty says government reverses agreement for
Jane Atieno, a mother of six, did not have time to save her business when bulldozers arrived early Monday and shaved his home. She says that her house has been destroyed and that she does not know where she and her family are going to live.
"I do not have money," Atieno said. "We have children, that's where we started our lives, this is the only place we know."
Kenya's Urban Road Authority began demolishing hundreds of structures in the region this week to make room for a road to facilitate traffic to and from the city center.
But Amnesty International Kenya said Wednesday that forced evictions illegally, inhumanly and against an agreement to find new homes first.
"The Kenya Urban Roads Authority had more than a year to complete a resettlement action plan to provide meaningful consultation." Pauline Vata, a human rights lawyer with from Amnesty International. "What they did was give an opinion, an 11-day notice, without the human rights organizations they would have bulldozed before."
Amnesty says the authorities have deployed 600 armed police in Kibera, and this week bulldozers were shot dead while slaughtering houses, shops, churches and schools.
According to In defense of the rights, at least five Kibera schools were demolished, affecting about 2,000 students at the end of the year.The authorities cited rapid urban development as the reason for forced evictions in Kenya's informal settlements. [19659006] Kenyans watch bulldozers tear down dozens of houses to make room for a new road in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya July 23, 2018. ” src=”https://gdb.voanews.com/E72D6D75-9436-4BE6-B5D8-82A2AF35EC73_w250_r0_s.jpg”/>
Esther Pbadaris, Member of Kenya Parliament says residents must be resettled.
"We have no problem with the road that gets there, [but] by virtue of the fact that they have been living here for over 20, 50 years, they have taken possession of this land" , did she say. "So, if you want to build a road and you say it was part of the road master plan, the fact is that they have to be compensated, we have to find a way to fix them."
Kenya has been trying to develop policies to provide affordable housing in informal settlements like Kibera.
The Kenya Slum Upgrading Program, launched in 2001, has resulted in the development of nearly 1,000 low-income housing units in the region. However, the project was hampered by corruption and poor planning.
Amnesty Kenya says that if demolitions continue as planned in Kibera, some 30,000 people will be affected.
