Political supremacy wars deprive Kibera residents of a better life

Each passing day, the imposing blocks of apartments rising above the rusty shanties at Kibera’s Soweto village wait patiently to be occupied.

Tension created by the fierce fight for political supremacy between the Jubilee Coalition and Cord is responsible for the prolonged vacancy now running close to one year which is now hurting the poor people who were to benefit from the houses, the Sunday Nation has learnt.

The rivalry, that started in September 2014 when the government launched the National Youth Service (NYS) projects in Kibera, has in recent months escalated from the usual war of words to violent protests over Cord’s demand for the removal of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioner’s (IEBC).

Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia on Saturday confirmed to the Sunday Nation that the 822 units in Zone A are complete.
“The houses are ready for occupation, they are awaiting the official handing over,” he said.

Construction of the Sh3 billion flats, jointly funded by the United Nations and Kenyan government, was launched in March 2012 by then Prime Minister Raila Odinga and retired President Mwai Kibaki.

“In the development which consists of one, two and three bedroomed houses, we also have a youth training centre, a multi-purpose hall and business stalls to assist residents improve their livelihoods,” said Mr Macharia.

The houses have already been allocated to eligible residents but they cannot move in because of a delayed handover by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

According to area MP Kenneth Okoth, the handover was delayed because of tension in the slum.

PROTESTS AGAINST IEBC

“President Kenyatta was supposed to come the week when the protests against the IEBC started. We did not chase him away, but you know how our people are. They tell me those are Jubilee houses and Uhuru has teargased ‘Baba,” he claims.

Kibera forms a huge chunk of Kibra constituency and is considered an ODM stronghold and was for two decades represented in Parliament by Mr Odinga. Its 96,670 registered voters and 93 per cent turnout was one of the highest during the last General Election and thus a good ground for any serious candidate. Out of the votes cast in the area, Mr Odinga got 57,055 while Mr Kenyatta garnered 15,739.

However, the Jubilee government has for a better part of its first term invested heavily in the poverty stricken vast slum, a strategy the opposition claims is meant to undermine Mr Odinga.

Apart from the houses, the government has constructed two new tarmacked roads with a third that will connect Ngong Road to Langata estate still under construction.

And while the rest of the country is being connected to electricity for Sh15,000 courtesy of the Last Mile project, Kenya Power has subsidised power connection fees to Kibera residents to Sh1,160.

That is not all. The government chose the slum as its launch pad for the NYS project, providing employment to over 3,000 youth. The national street lighting project was also launched in Kibera.

“We are doing what is in our manifesto. If everything being done is translated to political mileage then we are missing the point. We must appreciate a good deed,” says Jamleck Kamau, the Parliamentary Energy Committee’s chairman.

OPENLY CRITICISE

He however adds: “Kibera has been there for years yet no government has looked at it so we feel they need to appreciate and they owe the government some votes.”

Apart from the area MP, who has openly supported the government’s development initiatives in the area, NGOs who have for a long time benefited from the poverty in the area and a section of local Cord leaders view the State’s interest with suspicion although they don’t openly criticise.

“Whatever Uhuru is doing is not new,” says Mr Otieno Kotieno, the County Assembly Member for Saran’gombe.

He adds: “If it is toilets or clinics, the NGOs have been doing that for a long time and everything else he is doing is our right. People from Kibera also pay tax.”

Despite the divided perception about the government’s heavy investment in the area, Mr Kenyatta appears to have finally gained acceptance in the slum after his initial attempt to visit the area and issue title deeds to the Nubian community failed due to riots believed to have been motivated by the opposition.

He visited the slum three times during the initial months of the NYS project, often walking freely and taking selfies with the residents to the chagrin of the opposition. He even led a high powered government delegation to celebrate the eve of the 2014 Jamhuri Day with the residents.

Meanwhile caught between a rock and a hard place is Mr Okoth, who as an opposition MP has to choose between supporting the State’s development initiative’s or oppose them.

“ Why should I stop the government from developing the area yet my people are also paying taxes? If I have to take a whistle and go to protest I will do that but if Uhuru says that he wants to open houses for my people I will support this,” he said.