Can a Long Shot Lawsuit End Nairobi's Forced Evictions

Forty residents of Nairobi's Mukuru slum have petitioned "some of Kenya's most powerful individuals, companies and banks, demanding rights to the land they live on and an end to forced evictions." They've already succeeded in halting some evictions.

1 minute read

September 27, 2012, 6:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Daniel Howden examines the potentially precedent-setting case brought by a group of slum-dwellers. "The implications of the
case are enormous in a city where 67 per cent of the population lives
on less than 2 per cent of the land," writes Howden. "The petition is being seen as a
test for Kenya's much-vaunted new constitution that passed a referendum
last year and is supposed to guarantee peoples' rights to adequate
housing and secure tenure."

"Jane Weru, the director of the Union of Slum-Dwellers, says the land
crisis is a 'time-bomb' that could destroy Nairobi in the near future. 'This is a national crisis that can cause a civil war,' she warns. The
looming court battle is so important, she says, because 'in this case
you have a direct link between high level corruption and its impact on
the poorest people in the city.'"

Thanks to Daniel Lippman

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 in The Independent

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