Poverty drives Kisumu residents to slums
By winsley masese
Poverty has driven more than 300, 000 people in Kisumu to live in slums, with reports that the number is increasing.
Housing Assistant minister Bishop Margaret Wanjiru said more than 60 per cent of Kisumu’s 500, 000 residents live in non-formal settlements.
Wanjiru said Kisumu is under threat of being swallowed up by slums surrounding it, if no efforts are made to reverse the trend.
“This is a serious concern since the slums are barely four kilometres from the city centre,” she said.
She attributed the phenomenon to high poverty levels.
“The unique thing about Kisumu shanties is that the occupiers are the actual landowners,” she said.
The slums include Nyalenda, Obunga, Manyatta, and Kondele.
To reverse the trend and improve the state of housing in Kisumu, the Ministries of Housing and Cooperatives, in corporation with Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme have launched a plan to stem the growth of the settlements. Nyalenda and Bandani slums will be the first to benefit from the programme.
Wanjiru also underscored the importance of housing cooperatives as effective vehicles to improving housing in the country as she the launch of Nyalenda and Bandani housing cooperatives in Kisumu.
“We encourage slum residents to join cooperatives as efficient means to mobilising resources to improve their residential places,” she said.
She urged the Municipal Council to carry out proper planning of the town to ensure social amenities such as water and electricity are available to the residents.
She said without the provision of these services, slum dwellers are prone to insecurity, fire outbreaks and the HIV/Aids scourge.
“It is unacceptable that people use polythene bags to empty their bowels, instead proper toilets,” she said.
In June, the Ministry of Housing, UN Habitat, Sida and civil society groups unveiled a grand plan to upgrade Nairobi’s Kibera’s slum under the Kensup project as its first phase.
The project is also being implemented in Mavoko and Mombasa municipal councils.
1 user commented in " Over 60% of luos in Kisumu resides in extreme impoverished slums, while Asians and Kikuyus lives in posh Milimani Estate "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackInstead of building other cities ,the luos in diaspora should at least put up one investment.
We have neglected our homes for along time which one of the reasons of underdevelopment in
luoland.We should know that our base is our homes and we should build.Nobody will be your home for you.
The Asians and Kikuyus are in Kisumu to exploit its resources for themselves. In fact,the luos have failed to bring investments in the luoland ,and we should now do something.
Kisumu is strategically stituated for busineeses within the east african region. We can just be spectators in the kisumu transformation. We are also the consumer in the region and our decisions to put up investmet will be viable because there is ready market.We need not to put huge industry in kisumu.In fact,we can start with cottage industries.
While investing in cottage industries,we must educate our people to change their attitude in
consumption by accepting to buy their products from their industies.By doing so the luos will
create huge market for our products.
This is the way countries from asians developed.Indians were out to comsume their inferior products to build their economy.Now India products are just comparable with the ones from developed world.
In this case,we should demand Majimbo now inorder to help us develop our own way.Kenya is
ripe for majimbo way of development.Majimbo is the only remedy to address historical injustice.Many parts of kenya were ignored in terms of development and that is why we have slums in places like kisumu.
The solution to this economic marginasation is just majimbo government.Therefore,we want constitution which contains majimbo as a form of devolution of government. Less than this will just postpone chaos.
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