COHRE Protest Forced Evictions Kenya Nairobi River Basin 2008

HAKIJAMII TRUST

SHELTER FORUM

His Excellency Hon. Mwai Kibaki, CGH, MP President and Commander In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya Harambee House P O Box 30510 NAIROBI 21st January 2008 Dear President, Re: Threatened forced eviction of over 127, 000 people along the Nairobi River basin We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to express our grave concern about the situation of over 127, 000 people living in informal settlements along the Nairobi River basin, whose homes and informal businesses will be demolished to make way for a massive river clean-up programme. We call upon the Kenyan Government to ensure that no forced evictions take place for the clean-up of the Nairobi River basin until guidelines on evictions, in conformity with international human rights standards, are adopted.

This recent clean-up drive, announced in July 2008 and launched officially in November 2008, is the latest development in the three-phase Nairobi River Basin Programme (NRBP), a multistakeholder initiative founded in 1999 to rehabilitate the Nairobi River basin’s ecosystem. The Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, the National Environmental Management Agency, the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme and the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development are some of the stakeholder organisations involved. However, according to reports, in order to achieve this goal, thousands of homes and businesses will be demolished along the Ngong, Kamiti, Ruaka, Gatharaini, Nairobi, and Mathare rivers, affecting thousands of people living and working in Mathare Valley, Kosovo, Huruma, Mathare North, Gatwekera, Kisumu Ndogo, Lindi, Siranga, Soweto, LainiSaba, Mashimoni, Mukuru, Race Course and Gikomba Market settlements. There has been no consultation with the people who may be evicted as part of the NRBP. While we commend the Government for undertaking this initiative and understand the obvious danger associated with a lack of safe potable water and the threat of water-borne disease, it has been widely shown that substantial environmental degradation of the river’s basin is caused by large corporate and industrial polluters, rather than from informal settlements. One of the greatest problems in the informal settlements is the lack of water and sanitation services and garbage disposal facilities, which forces the residents to use the river as a dumping site. These are some of the critical issues that the Government must urgently address if the planned clean up is to be sustainable.

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We are deeply concerned that for people living and working along the affected areas, the demolition of homes and informal business sites would be socially and economically disastrous.

To date, no comprehensive resettlement or compensation plan has been announced and we are concerned, as has been the case in the past, that the Government has no provision for those whose homes will be demolished and who will be evicted for the clean-up exercise. There have been media reports of Sh1.4 billion being set aside by the Government for the relocation of those affected; however, the details of a relocation or compensation plan have not been made public.

Though the Kenyan Government has made commitments to various international bodies that it will adopt eviction guidelines, which will incorporate safeguards and due process, the reality is that large-scale forced evictions of people living in informal settlements regularly occur in a manner which contravenes international human rights standards. In the last month alone, more than 2,000 people have been forcibly evicted from Cluster D, Mathare. In late November 2008, another estimated 100 people were evicted from Maasai village in Nairobi. In November 2008 in its concluding observations the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, after considering Kenya’s State Report, specifically recommended that protection against forced eviction should be included in the new constitution.

We would like to remind the Kenyan Government that under international human rights law, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives to eviction have been explored and genuine consultation has taken place with communities. Evictions can only be carried out when appropriate procedural protections, identified by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are in place. Governments are also under an obligation to ensure that no one is rendered homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights as a consequence of eviction. Adequate alternative housing and compensation for all losses must be made available to those affected prior to eviction, regardless of whether they rent, own, occupy or lease the land or housing in question.

As a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Government of Kenya is legally obliged to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing, including the prohibition on forced evictions, as guaranteed under Article 11(1). Forced evictions also contravene Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides for the right to the protection of the law against arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person’s privacy, family or home. Kenya is party to the ICCPR. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has also affirmed in the case of SERAC v Nigeria, that forced evictions contravene the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights to which Kenya is a party, in particular, Articles 14 and 16 on the right to property and the right to health and Article 18(1) on the State’s duty to protect the family.

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), Hakijamii and Amnesty International therefore call upon the Kenyan Government to ensure that guidelines on evictions, in conformity with international human rights standards, are adopted as a matter of priority before proceeding any further with the proposed evictions for the clean-up of the Nairobi River basin. In particular we would like to emphasise that the Kenyan Government is obliged under international human rights law to ensure genuine consultation with affected communities on all aspects of the cleanup exercise, to explore all feasible alternatives to evictions, and as a last resort, to ensure that adequate alternative accommodation and compensation are made available to all those who have to be evicted.

Furthermore, we urge all stakeholders involved in the Nairobi River basin clean-up operation to investigate and make public the causes of pollution of the river basin, including the share of large-scale industrial and corporate polluters. We believe this will enable those stakeholders on the ground to explore alternatives to evictions without jeopardising the clean-up initiative.

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We look forward to your response and an ongoing dialogue with your Government on ensuring the rights of the affected individuals and families to adequate housing. We and the affected communities would appreciate receiving information about any actions undertaken by any government office to resolve these concerns and about the progression of plans in relation to this project. We will be contacting you shortly to follow up. We thank you for your time and attention to these matters.

Sincerely,

Odindo Opiata, Director, Hakijamii Trust.

Salih Booker Executive Director, COHRE

Erwin Van Der Borght Africa Programme Director, Amnesty International

Eric Makokha, Chief Executive Officer, Shelter Forum Cc: The Rt. Hon. Raila .A. Odinga, EGH, MP Prime Minister Treasury Building, 14th Floor P O Box 74434, 00200 NAIROBI Hon. S. Amos Wako The Attorney General Attorney General’s Chambers Harambee Avenue P O Box 40112, 00100 3

NAIROBI Hon. James Orengo Minister, Ministry of Lands Ardhi House P O Box 30450, 00100 NAIROBI Hon. Martha Karua Minister Ministry of Justice, Constitutional Affairs and National Cohesion Cooperative House, Haile Selassie Ave. P O Box 56056, 00100 NAIROBI Hon. John Michuki Minister, Ministry of Environment NHIF Building, Ngong Road P O Box 30126, 00100 NAIROBI Hon. Mutula Kilonzo Minister, Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan KICC Building, 26th Floor P O Box 30130, 00100 Hon. Soita Shitanda Minister, Ministry of Housing Ardhi House P O Box 30450, 00100 NAIROBI Hon. Charity K Ngilu Minister, Minister of Water and Irrigation Maji House P O Box 49720, 00100 NAIROBI The Executive Director UNEP Headquarters UN Avenue P O Box 30030, 00100 NAIROBI

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