www.ecobuild-africa.com
1. SITUATED DEFINITION - RIGHT TO A LOCAL PLACE
Intro-Conclusion:
•
Right to the city, as ‘right to a local place’ and to ‘the
totality of the urban’ in addition to right to basic services.
•
In Kenya focus on generalized national citizenship
weakens this ‘right to local places’; necessitating the
concept of citizenship to be further localized.
•
Local citizenship is linked to national and localized history
that is expressed through land ownership alienating nonland owning residents from their citizenship rights.
1. SITUATED DEFINITION - RIGHT TO A LOCAL PLACE
Intro-Conclusion:
• The two cases demonstrate how urban residents negotiate
claim making and construct their citizenship in methods
that move beyond the authorities’ ideas of urban areas as
mere centers for service provision & markets for
commodities.
• Urban places should be looked at beyond being sites for
service provision, to total theatres of life that produce
situated political citizenship.
• We conclude that in Kenya there is need to deepen the
usufruct aspects of the city.
2. RIGHT TO ‘THE URBAN PLACE’ LOST IN PLETHORA OF
OTHER RIGHTS
• Chapter One of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 entrenches
fundamental and socio-economic rights and freedoms.
• Central to fundamental rights is the assertion that sovereignty
is vested in the people.
• People may choose to exercise their right to self-governance
directly or through an elected government.
• The constitution creates only two levels of government national and county, making the exercise of self-governance
at urban level vague.
• In practice cities in Kenya still are mere sites of service
provision. Therefore, urban citizenship and right to the city per
se do not exist in Kenya.
3. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION EXIST IN LAW BUT WEAK IN PRACTICE
• County Governments Act 2012 mandates participation in
preparation of the County Integrated Development Plans;
• The Public Finance Act requires participation in preparation of
county budgets, which includes urban budgets; this Act also
creates equalization fund, which is meant to address the
needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups;
• The Urban Areas and Cities Act, which requires participation in
urban governance and management; establishes the citizens’
forum; requires that Urban Boards receive petitions from
citizens; requires public participation in development of
Integrated Urban Development Plans, land use plans and
urban budgets, amongst others.
4. KIBERA - FROM SQUATTERS ON STATE LAND TO RIGHT
HOLDERS
• Government has taken into consideration the rights of
squatters to an urban location / right to a local place.
• The need to modernize the railway was going to result in
displacement of residents around the railway reserve.
• Studies were undertaken by various civil society organizations
to support the rights of the residents.
• The legal framework, when this process started, was weak;
spaces for negotiation were limited.
• Interventions initially based based on international best
practices for evictions and World Bank Guidelines rather than
the Kenyan Law: spaces for negotiation identified by the
residents and their supporters.
4. KIBERA RESIDENTS - FROM SQUATTERS ON STATE
LAND TO RIGHT HOLDERS
• This situation was to change in 2010 with the
enactment of the new Constitution.
• Major partners in this project, Kenya Railways and the
World Bank, then accommodated civil society inputs.
• Alternative standards for the railway reserve &
unprecedented plan, spearheaded by the civil society
organizations, Haki Jamii, representing residents and
Pamoja Trust, consulting for the Kenya Railway
Corporation to resettle some of the evictees within
the railway reserve; which had been reduced.
• Resettlement plan also includes development of
business premises to protect the residents’ livelihood.
4. KIBERA RESIDENTS - FROM SQUATTERS ON STATE
LAND TO RIGHT HOLDERS
• The right to housing and right to earn a living; therefore
homes and businesses have been protected to a good degree.
• It is noteworthy that even though the residents had occupied
public land they are to be duly compensated for removal.
• Although it was not necessarily considered from usufruct
perspectives - from the use value - it came close, to the extent
that people’s social networks and ways of life were considered
necessary for protection.
4. KIBERA RESIDENTS - FROM SQUATTERS ON STATE
LAND TO RIGHT HOLDERS
4. KIBERA RESIDENTS - FROM SQUATTERS ON
STATE LAND TO RIGHT HOLDERS
4. KIBERA RESIDENTS - FROM SQUATTERS ON STATE
LAND TO RIGHT HOLDERS
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL
EVICTIONS IN GARISSA, KENYA
• A community of 1,122 residents in Garissa filed a case seeking
to have the government prevented from evicting them from
their homes.
• The residents had occupied the land since the 1940s
• Forceful evictions declared unconstitutional
• Displaced persons claimed and received damages in line with
the constitution, in addition to an order for government to
resettle them on account of violation of a whole lot of their
socio-economic rights, and also destroying their homes
without providing appropriate alternative accommodation as
required by law.
• The damages also extended to financial compensation for
loss of livelihood.
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL
EVICTIONS IN GARISSA, KENYA
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL
EVICTIONS IN GARISSA, KENYA
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL EVICTIONS
IN GARISSA, KENYA
• Residents claimed that there were violations of their rights
through forcible, violent & brutal eviction by the demolition of
homes without being accorded alternativeshelter.
• Other violations:
oRights to accessible and adequate housing, reasonable
standards of sanitation, health care services, freedom from
hunger, clean and safe water in adequate quantities and
education were violated;
oRight to life;
oRights to physical and mental health, and physical and moral
health of the family.
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL
EVICTIONS IN GARISSA, KENYA
oRights of children to basic nutrition, shelter and healthcare
and protection from abuse, neglect and all forms of
violence and inhuman treatment and to basic education
oRights of the elderly persons to the pursuit or personal
development, to live in dignity, respect and freedom from
abuse with reasonable care and assistance from the State
was also infringed
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL EVICTIONS
IN GARISSA, KENYA
High Court ruled that demolitions and evictions violated the
petitioners’ fundamental & socio-economic rights:
• Right to inherent human dignity & the security of the person
• Right to access to information
• Right to fair administrative action
• Right to protection of property
• Right of the elderly to pursue personal development, to live in
dignity, respect & freedom from abuse; & to receive reasonable
care
5. NEGOTIATION THROUGH LITIGATION - FORCEFUL
EVICTIONS IN GARISSA, KENYA
It is a fundamental duty of the State to:
• Observe, respect, protect, promote and fulfill fundamental
rights & freedom;
• To address the needs of vulnerable groups within the society.
The State to:
• Return petitioners (residents) to their land & reconstruct their
homes and/or provide alternative housing;
• Pay each petitioner approx. $2,000 in damages;
• Provide emergency alternative housing, food, clean & safe
drinking water, sanitary facilities & health care services;
• Provide information on the status of land regularization