Wounds of chaos still festering in city slums

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BILLY MUTAI | NATION Harlem Youth Group in Huruma chairman James Kimondo (second left) with other leaders and members. They say they will do anything, including starting trades for the youth, so they are not misused by politicians again. 

By PAUL LETIWA pletiwa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Thursday, July 12  2012 at  22:00

IN SUMMARY

• In one, those who supported PNU live in one area known as Othaya, while those who supported ODM live in another area known as Bondo, and the divisions that the violence reinforced are still there

In Nairobi’s slums that were hard hit by the 2008 post-election violence, the wounds of the chaos are still festering.

One consequence of the violence was the reinforcement of ethnic balkanisation in the settlements.

In Huruma, for example, all those who supported the Party of National Unity, who are almost always Kikuyu, live in one area known as Othaya, the home town of President Kibaki.

Those who supported the Orange Democratic Movement, mostly Luo, live in another area known as Bondo, the home base of his rival in the elections, Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The two villages are separated by a narrow, dirt road.

On a recent tour of the area, the Nation find Ms Naomi Nguku in a dark room on the Othaya side in which she sells ready-made food.

In a firm voice and a stoic face, she recounts vividly the madness of 2008 and how close she came to harm when a gang broke into her house.

Hid under the bed

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“They kicked the door and entered the house by force. But before they came in, I hid under the bed, thank God, they did not harm me,” she recalls. However, they stole most of her household property.

After a few hours of hiding she came out of the house, only to be greeted by disturbing scenes of bodies lying along the road that leads to Huruma’s Casanova area.

“I have lived here for more than 10 years. Cases of crime, like robbery, burglary and mugging are common, so we are used to them. But I have never seen people being killed like insects the way it happened in January 2008,” she says.

Today, more than five years later, and with another General Election looming, Ms Nguku is scared about what will happen.

“I will vote, because it’s my right. But after voting, I will travel to my rural home in Murang’a. I will not be around here; I still fear people will fight.”

The divisions that the violence reinforced are still there, she says.

“Although it’s long since the fight took place, Bondo people are still living in Bondo area, and those of us who live in Othaya are still here. The Bondo people rarely come here to buy anything, and the Othaya people rarely go to Bondo. That is why I fear.”

Across the dirt road, in Bondo, lives Mr Moses Onyango. He says that the enmity between the residents of both villages was getting worse by the day until mid-2008.

“During that time, we tried to avoid the Othaya area; I didn’t go there for a few months until May 2008. But today, the enmity has reduced; we don’t have a problem doing business with those of them who wish to do business with us.”

Indeed, all does not seem lost in Huruma.

Before the violence, Mr James Kimondo was a petty criminal in the area. He was the type who would ambush people and mug them and so could easily fall prey to being used by politicians to do their bidding.

But the experience of the chaos changed him. Today, he chairs the Harlem Youth Group whose members, he says, are doing everything possible to ensure that the youth will not be used by politicians for their selfish gains again.

“I participated in crime, I robbed people. However, when I came to realise that crime does not pay, I gathered a group of youths and we founded Harlem Youth where we do some farming to help us earn a little money. We also try to preach peace in Huruma. I hope things will change,” says the father of two.

In the neighbouring Mathare slum, the situation is much the same, but some believe things have changed.

Mr Anthony Mukele, a hawker, believes that the youth in the area have learnt their lesson and most of them are working hard to survive.

“The areas which were mostly affected in Mathare during the violence are Ghetto, Kijiji cha Chewa and Mathare Area 1. The youth in the three villages have since seen the impact of the violence and I don’t think they can repeat that,” he says.

The widespread poverty in the villages is the biggest danger today, as it was in 2007. People live in conditions that are inhuman — mud hovels for houses; no roads, street lights, toilets, bathrooms and water.

Nearly 60 per cent of the population of Nairobi live in similar conditions. With nothing to lose, when violence erupts, it is people like these who would want to vent their anger on a society that has forgotten them.

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And for them, their nearest target is that neighbour who belongs to the other tribe, the other party. If they can get access to the more affluent areas of Nairobi, including the city centre, the damage to property and loss of life will even be worse.

Mathare’s “Kijiji cha Chewa” village, which is dominated by Kikuyus, Luyhas and Kambas, was completely razed down during the post-election violence.

In Kibera, another Nairobi slum hit hard by the chaos, cautious optimism is back, as dwellers try to overcome fears of a repeat in 2013.

Even before the violence, many parts of Kibera were largely organised around ethnic groups. Thus names of villages like Kisumu Ndogo point to the ethnic identity of their residents. However, many other parts of Kibera were multi-ethnic before the chaos — but are no longer so.

According to residents, Laini Saba, Kisumu Ndogo and Mashimoni, where the Kikuyu lived, were the most affected during the 2008 chaos.

Ms Lucy Ogweno, who runs a grocery store in Kisumu Ndogo, says that she had moved on, even after her store was burnt down during the violence.

“I have left behind what happened to me and my family. The small business we had was destroyed. But you see, I can’t dwell on things that are not my fault. I am a single mother and my children are young, we need food on the table at the end of the day,” she explains.

After the violence, Ms Ogweno picked up from scratch.

“I built this kiosk with some help from neighbours and friends. Today I am selling more things even than before the violence. I have expanded my business, I also sell second-hand clothes and now you can see, I’m moving ahead. I am very optimistic everything will be fine even after next year’s elections.’

Ms Ogweno says there is not much change in ethnic relations in the slum.

“Things have changed a bit but not in many places. There are still some areas like Mashimoni where those who live there rarely do business with us. But I am still hopeful that things will continue to change and I also hope people will completely forget about this tribal tag once and for all,” she said.

One of the consequences of the violence was the phenomenon of the tenants who became landlords after house owners fled. J. Otieno, who asked that we do not use his real name, is one of them. He is a taxi driver who operates in the city centre.

Before the violence, he lived in a compound owned by a Kikuyu, with 10 other tenants, for which he paid Sh1,500 in rent a month.

After the owner fled, Otieno today collects the rent. He says he is just a “caretaker” and will hand over the money if the owner comes for it. This has not happened for years since the owner fled.

In many parts of Kibera, this problem still exists. With an election approaching without a solution, the bitterness, enmity and suspicion will linger on for much longer.