Ariel view of Kibera slum [Photo/stevenwrigley.com]
Kibera is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest informal settlements in the world. It has a population of approximately 250,000 dwellers. Most dwellers in kibera are jobless people who earn their living from daily hustles. Here are things you should know about Kibera:
Land ownership
All the land in Kibera is owned by the government. Its residents are invaders who settled there long time ago, and build shacks to rent out. Statistics show that only about 10% of people in Kibera are shack owners, while the remaining 90% are tenants.
Housing
Almost all housing properties in Kibera are shacks. A shack will measure 12ft x 12ft, which could accommodate up to eight people. They are made with mad walls, corrugated tin roofs, with a dirty or concrete floor. One shack goes for 700 shillings per month.
The population
Kibera population is mainly made up of the Luo, Luhya and some Kamba. All these are tenants, while Muslims and some kikuyus are the absentee landlords. Most of these people are jobless, while a small group has contract jobs.
Electricity
A small area, like say 20% of the whole Kibera slum has electricity. Shack habitants have a choice to receive power from UN-Habitat at a cost of 900 shillings. However, most of these people couldn’t afford this price and therefore have no electricity. UN-Habitat have made an effort of providing street lighting and security lighting in Kibera.
Water
Kibera habitats used to collect their water from Nairobi dam. This water was never clean, and it caused lots of infections including typhoid and cholera. Recently, there have been two mains water pipes into Kibera, one from the municipal council and one from the World Bank.
Until recently Kibera had no water and it had to be collected from the Nairobi dam. People will collect this water at a small fee of 3 shillings.