Feature - rent crisis in Nairobi slums

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) says rents in the slum areas of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi - where as many as 2 million people, or 60 percent of the city's population, live - are "exorbitant" and "exploitative". "When we talk about high rents, from a service standpoint, they are too high," Chris Williams, policy coordinator at HABITAT's Shelter Branch, told IRIN. Much of the land on which the slums have been constructed is publicly owned and has been illegally "distributed" or appropriated. This means that landlords are not legally obliged to provide any services - which results in no latrines or water, no electricity, no rubbish collection, no infrastructure, totally inadequate housing, no repairs or maintenance, and open sewers with stinking, raw sewage floating about. Costs are cut to a minimum by the landlords, while the tenants - who constitute about 80 percent of slum inhabitants - are in a weak bargaining position because of desperately low incomes. In a working document entitled "A Rapid Economic Appraisal of Rents in Slums and Informal Settlements", HABITAT reported that "apart from limited access to water sources, residents of informal settlements are not provided with basic services and infrastructure by urban authorities". Nairobi City Council officials argue that they are unable to cope with the rapid growth of the city. "One hundred thousand people are leaving rural poverty every year to come to Nairobi. The economy is not able to give them employment, so they become a problem of the city. Nairobi is taking the burden of the entire national economy," Patrick Odongo of the city planning department told IRIN. "Many of these people cannot pay for the services they are demanding." But others accuse the Council of mismanagement of funds. "Nairobi City Council has a budget to provide services, and people employed to do it, but they don't - they're just corrupt. Nongovernmental agencies and community groups are the only ones who do anything. The Council members don't mind too much about the slums, because they think they shouldn't be there in the first place," Christine Akinyi of Slums Information Development and Resource Centres, a local nongovernmental agency, told IRIN. Meanwhile, the slum landlords make "hefty profits at the expense of the poor", says HABITAT. Studies have shown that landlords' annual capital income returns for their investment in slum houses reach as high as 142 percent. Many of them also live in affluent and influential middle- and high-income groups within Kenyan society. In 2000, a study done at the University of Nairobi found that of 120 landlords interviewed, 57 percent were either government officers or politicians, HABITAT reported. LIVING CONDITIONS About 90 percent of slum houses were single rooms measuring between nine and 14 square metres in area, and housed between three and five people, HABITAT reported. Most structures had leaking roofs, poorly finished mud floors, mud walls, and some had no windows or secure doors. Where toilets or pit-latrines were available, they often consisted of holes large enough for children to fall into. "Mothers have to adopt the wrap-and-throw method of excreta disposal for children, which in turn jeopardises the limited spaces available for dumping and playing grounds," HABITAT said. "Toilets are supposed to be provided by the City Council, but they don't, so it's up to the nongovernmental organisations and community groups," said Akinyi. In the Majengo slum area, about 1,000 households, each with an average of about six people, had the use of 12 latrines, which were maintained by a local youth group for 50 shillings per household per month, she added. "Most people pay about 1,000 shillings [US $13] per month in rent for a basic room, which typically houses at least six people. About 5 percent in Majengo can afford electricity, water and a toilet - that costs 1,500 or 2,000 shillings." Overcrowding is a massive problem, as well as competition for houses. A Kenya government population census conducted in 1999 found as many as 82,000 people living within an area of less than one square kilometre in some settlements, HABITAT reported. Those who default on rent payments regularly come home to find a new lock on their dwelling, with their children and belongings thrown outside. "They evict you because so many others want the house," said Akinyi. FACTORS LEADING TO HIGH RENTS A number of factors contribute to keeping rents high, including bribes, which are paid to officials, the "high risk" associated with constructing houses on illegally appropriated land, and absentee landlords using "agents" and militia groups to collect rents and evict people. Those who work in Nairobi's slums say corruption among central government officials, Nairobi City Council workers, civil servants, provincial administration officials, and local chiefs perpetuates the situation. "Everyone is benefiting from kickbacks, except the urban poor," said Williams of HABITAT. "Everyone's making money out of the slums - it's very difficult to say how much," added Akinyi. Each time improvements or construction takes place, the local administrator or chief had to receive payment so that work could be sanctioned, HABITAT reported. Payments range from 18,000 shillings in more "favourable" locations in the Kibera area, to between 3,000 and 4,000 shillings in Mukuru or Korogocho. In Kibera, structure owners "admitted to paying money to local administrators, politicians or wealthy businessmen to get the plot on which to build," HABITAT said. Nairobi's deputy mayor, Joe Aketch, told IRIN that the Council "is not as corrupt as people are alleging". Given the financial constraints that City Hall was facing, in terms of Nairobi citizens not paying their dues and an oversized workforce of 22,000 people, the Council was doing "much better" than before, he said. "The City Council has been given a bad name. We're not corrupt, we're doing the best we can - if individuals are corrupt that's a different story." He added that 200 million shillings had been allocated by the Council to improvement projects (footbridges, libraries, drainage, etc) chosen by communities living in slum areas. THE CASE OF KIBERA The Kibera area of Nairobi is the site of sub-Saharan Africa's largest slum, with an estimated population of between 500,000 and 750,000. It was also the most expensive slum area to live in, reported HABITAT, due to a number of factors, including proximity to the city's industrial and central areas, and relative security in parts. "It is a very diverse socioeconomic place," said Williams, "where about 60 percent of people have formal wages." In late November and early December 2001, violence - triggered by a feud between landlords and tenants over rents - rocked the area. Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi visited Kibera in October and directed the provincial administration to explore ways of making landlords cut their rents. Fighting ensued, which resulted in the deaths of at least 12 people, the displacement of an estimated 3,000, and rendered many others homeless. Women's groups also accused police officers and rioters of perpetrating rapes, a charge which the Nairobi police denied. REGULARISATION OF NAIROBI'S SLUMS A number of key issues must urgently be addressed by Kenyan officials and landlords operating in slum areas, says Chris Williams of HABITAT. These issues comprise the need for the Kenyan government to introduce a national policy on slum upgrading; the regularisation of land allocation procedures and prevention of irregular allocations; the provision by landlords of guaranteed security of tenure for slum dwellers; the introduction of laws to prevent the construction of slum houses lacking basic amenities such as access to water and latrines; and the recognition by government of the citizenship and attendant rights of Nairobi's slum dwellers. HABITAT also called for the stabilisation of rental markets, noting that if the Kenyan Rent Restriction Act was applied effectively to informal settlements, rents in slums would fall by 70 percent. Williams cautioned against lowering rents at the expense of the provision of services, however. In order to improve the quality of life of slum dwellers, rent prices must be stabilised and the provision of basic services rendered mandatory, he said. With the prospect of Nairobi city doubling in size in the next 15 to 20 years, it was imperative that structures were put in place to protect the city's population, Akinyi said. "There's always the danger of Kibera happening again. When it reaches a point where there are serious problems, it can explode. There's a good chance it will happen again," she warned.