Should The Kiambu Government Upgrade County Houses To Accommodate more People?
The county government has denied harboring such plans and
dismissed such as mere propaganda.
The debate in question here centered on whether or not it was right for the
government of Kiambu to come up with a housing upgrade programme that would
ease the housing challenge that faces the residents of Thika Town.
Those for the idea argued that domestic shelter was an
important basic need in all societies saying that the demand for housing was one
aspect of the problems that had given rise to illegal makeshift houses in urban
areas. They reasoned that of late, there was a severe housing shortage in Thika
with demand – supply gap increasing day-by-day. They stated that trends in
housing since independence had marginalized low-income earners housing needs
with the limited choices never matching the ever increasing demand for housing.
Thus despite the efforts at building more houses, the low-income
earners still face housing problems. They were also of the opinion that the scarcity
of housing was the key reason urban landlords took advantage of the residents
to overcharge and mistreat their tenants. To this school of thought, the most affected
were those who have least resources as providing housing nowadays is a
profit-oriented industry. Housing has become very costly in the town, spurring
an affordability crisis. One the men
told us that some of the homeless people we saw around were so because they were
running from the existing housing problems.
“These
people cannot purchase houses nor afford high rent, so they end up living in
unfit accommodation such as in Kiandutu, Gacagi and Matharao, as the rents
demanded for such an accommodation is much lower. Some very poor people prefer
to squat rather than even rent an accommodation, thus leading to the growth of
slums,” he said.
He further argued that the
government was confronted with keeping pace with the demands for low income
housing and one way of coming up with a lasting solution was to introduce low
income urban housing project similars to the Mathare 4A or the Kibera Housing Slum
Upgrade. He was convinced that
the potential for progress of any town could be fully exploited only if lasting
solutions were found to the serious problems caused by the shortage of housing
and the inadequate nature of some existing housing especially those near the
town centre.
He argued that the housing plan
in these area had been done without anticipating population growth in Thika
Town thus resulting to poor land use. They were of the opinion that there was
too much wasted space that if well utilized could help accommodate so many
people without having to displace those already occupying these houses.
The Kibera site has 900 housing
units, 230 business stalls and a nursery school. The project is enclosed by a
wall and comprises one-, two- and three-roomed units, each complete with a
bathroom, kitchen and balcony. Apart from being connected to the main water
supply, it also has a borehole. The project also boasts a two-storied youth
centre, a social hall, office space, toilets and gigantic waste disposal bins.
To achieve such a great objective,
his partner said that the county government could start by dividing JAMOFASTAR
residents into zones for systematic re-development. They should then start by building
the apartments in phases on the open spaces where those living in the nearest older
county houses could eventually shift to allow the old houses be demolished.
Those living in these houses may
not be fully opposed to this idea but fear the county government will cut deals
to allow non-bona fide residents to benefit from such housing; people who
really do not need government help for housing. They prefer the Kiambu
Government having to make the beneficiaries sign contracts with them that will
make it hard for the Kiambu Government to shortchange them with other people.
The Kiambu authorities should therefore
address this by way of community participation. Community participation,
being the key drive here, must service the residents with all the relevant
information to allow them enjoy direct participation in the decision-making
process as well as having the freedom to develop their own options to some of
their needs and solutions. They should be allowed to fully participate in the
formulation of the whole programme and concept.
The core consideration in the
conceptualization of such a massive programme must be the improvement of living
conditions all Thika residents with minimal displacement of the already
existing residents. Thus emphasis must be given to the prevailing socio-economic
status of the residents including affordability of improved housing,
infrastructure constraints and other social constraints.
What is your Take on this whole
debate?
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