Why Kibera is the Largest Slum in Africa.
Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and third largest in the world, with an approximate population of 700,000 people.
Dave Nyabwari
Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and third largest in the world, with an approximate population of 700,000 people. It is located 6.6km from the city centre.It was begun years ago by the British where it was a place allocated to the Africans who lived in poverty while the other places were occupied by the British.
The slum has majority of the tenants being the Luo,Luhya and some kamba and the landlords are Kikuyu although they do not live there in most cases.
Kibera is known for the following reasons:
- Extreme poverty
- Drugs
- Theft
- Raping cases
- High number of people infected with HIV and AIDS
Despite all this reasons that give it a bad reputation the growth of the slum has been increasing over the years due to some reasons until now it has become the largest slum in Africa.
Reasons behind Kibera’s slum growth rate.
- Life in Kibera is cheap for starters in urban life
Those people who have left rural areas to come and start their life in the city of Nairobi,find Kibera an ideal place for starting life.
In Kibera there are rental houses which cost as low as ksh 600 per month which is very affordable for them.
Water that was a problem in the past.It had to be collected from the nairobi dam, moreover, it was not clean therefore water borne diseases such as cholera were a problem.
Nowadays there is supply of water with two main pipes;one from the municipal council and the other from the World bank.The residents collect water at ksh 3 per 20 liters.
Food is also available at cheap prices.A satisfactory meal in kibera goes at ksh 70 which is very cheap for the residents. These benefits of life attracts many low earning people to the slums of Kibera.
- Many opportunities for youth and very poor.
Kibera has worldwide from many humanitarian organizations and non-governmental organizations attention therefore young students and pupils have higher chances for landing a scholarship compared to any other place.
Kibera is one of the most studied slums by charity organization and the United Nations therefore this opens doors of help to the youth and children in the slum area.
[Photo of Kibera girls with sponsers(Kibera hamlets) of their education,courtesy of chuffed.org]
- Location is advantegeous for access to and from the city centre
Kibera is located 6.6km from the city centre.This poses as advantage to both job seekers and casual workers for they can walk to the city centre for work or seek jobs thus it becomes economical to those earning low wages or those without income completely.
Considering its position it can be a good place for a low earning begginer therefore he or she will want to live in Kibera.
- Unemployment
Lack of jobs in the country will lead those starters of life to prefer staying in the slums of kibera since they have no option of where to stay they can afford.
Despite kibera residents being near the industrial area of Nairobi where up to 50% are employed in the unskilled jobs,still there is unemployment rate of 50% of the people.
This leads to idleness of people in the slums which leads to roberry in the area,drug addiction increase which contributes to early preganancies among young ladies.All these contribute to poor living conditions in kibera at a faster rate.
5.Extremely Low earnings employees
People in kenya that are employed this unskilled jobs most of them prefer to stay in kibera so that the low wages they receive can be able to help them sustain the hard life of the city.By living in kibera it will be easy for them to eat,sleep and also access their jobs without high expense.
