Joy flows in Kibera as slum dwellers get decent houses in upgrade initiative

Mr Meshack Murembe, a resident of Kibera slum in Nairobi County, could not hide his joy as tears freely flowed on his cheeks after getting a two bedroom house from the government.

Under the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP), Mr Murembe was among the over 600 families from the slum to benefit from the housing upgrade initiative.

This comes after a 10-year wait following a court case.

Mr Murembe who has lived in the slum from 2004, patiently waited for the completion of the project which had stalled ago due to the court case political interference.

Mr Murembe said that he was losing hope but it all changed when the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) was directed by the courts in January 5 this year to allocate houses to their legitimate owners.

“I can now breathe that I finally own a house. Despite taking many years the government has fulfilled its promise to give us a better life,” said Mr Murembe.

Mr Murembe is just one of the Over 600 families from Soweto East zone A in Kibera slum who are the first batch of beneficiaries to occupy the 687 housing units under the upgrade programme.

While addressing the beneficiaries on Tuesday at Nyayo Stadium, Lands, Housing and Urban Development cabinet secretary Jacob Kaimenyi said that the residents were allocated 144 housing units of three bedrooms and 538 two bedroom apartments.

Prof Kaimenyi said the houses had been given through an organized mortgage scheme that saw those who wanted a three bedroom house pay Sh135,000 and two bedroom Sh100,000 upfront and a monthly fee that they will be informed later for a period of 25 years.

“This houses are not for free but they will attract interest of 3 per cent and be paid for a period of 25 years to the government,” said Prof Kaimenyi.

He urged the residents to use the houses for the required purposes and avoid past incidences where they had a breach tenancy agreements they signed and rented them out.

The KNCHR vice chairperson George Morara said that the court had mandated the commission to allocate the houses to qualified applicants.

He said that those who benefited had to meet set requirements that included having been a resident of Kibera, being in a Sacco and also having paid full rent to date.

“The commission had been tasked to identify the legit people to give the houses to avoid illegal allocation of people who did not belong to Kibera and we addressed all the cases that had been reported,” said Mr Morara.

Mr Morara added that those who have benefited will not be able to sell them as they have signed a contract that will see them live in those houses for a period of 25 years and can only be inherited by their next of kin.