Nairobi, Kenya — Winnie Makinda, 35, says she is facing the worst crisis and lowest moment of her life due to the Kenyan government’s response to floods that devastated her poor community in the capital of Nairobi.
The floods and landslides swept away people and inundated homes, killing at least 267 people and impacting more than 380,000, according to government statistics. The floods are caused by unusually heavy rains during Kenya’s rainy season, which begins in March and sometimes extends into June.
Those most affected are people living near rivers, including the Mathare River that runs through Nairobi.
To save future lives, the government last week ordered evacuations and the demolition of structures and buildings that had been illegally built less than 30 meters from the river banks. Authorities say at least 181,000 people have been moved since last week and measures have been taken to provide temporary shelter, food and other essential items.
But the demolitions have only caused more suffering, as those affected say they are carried out in a chaotic and inhumane manner. At least three people died last week when bulldozers tore down structures above them, according to human rights groups, relatives of the dead and residents who spoke to The Associated Press.
Among the dead was 17-year-old Ian Otieno from Makinda, who was crushed to death when an excavator knocked down a wall of the Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa church while he was inside helping to save property.
“The bulldozer driver refused to listen to the women’s pleas that there were children inside the church,” Makinda said between sobs.
Otieno was the only one of his eight children who attended school and carried the family’s hopes for a better future. Makinda, a single mother of four sons and four daughters, faces forced eviction this week from the $15-a-month tin shack she calls home in Kenya’s populous Mathere slums.
One of her children suffers from sickle cell anemia which often leaves her bedridden and needing expensive treatment and the youngest needs frequent medical attention after being scalded with boiling water around the torso.
Overwhelmed by her situation, Makinda tried to jump into the raging waters of the Mathare River to “end the stress.” Fortunately, her neighbors stopped her on Wednesday and calmed her down by giving her a local liquor called “Changaa,” popular in rural and low-income areas. income areas of the capital.
Makinda earns $2 a day washing other people’s clothes and says she can barely afford one adequate meal a day for her children, let alone pay her hospital bills. And now she has to raise money for her son’s burial, an expensive task for most people in western Kenya, and move to a new house.
“My son’s body is in the morgue without preservation because I have not paid. I can’t even afford transportation to the morgue,” he said.
Like hundreds of poor Kenyans whose homes are being demolished, Makinda feels betrayed and abandoned by the government. Some say they were evicted without the legally recommended three-month notice period that should be given before action is taken.
They also say they have not received the $75 in help to find alternative accommodation that President William Ruto has promised.
Millicent Otondo, 48, a mother of three, lost her home and business of 20 years during this week’s demolition.
Otondo, caretaker of a five-story building that was demolished, told how engineers marked the building that housed her shop and home for demolition, leading people to break in and steal all her stock.
“I’m really bitter because the police stood by while people looted my belongings,” Otondo said from a local elementary school where she received temporary shelter.
Otondo says he has not received the $75 and even if he did, it would not cover his rent and is a drop in the bucket compared to the $6,000 in losses from his property that was looted. He also questions why the building was demolished even though it was found to be no closer than 30 meters from the river bank.
The government has defended itself against opposition accusations that it was unprepared for the impact of the floods despite early warnings.
“Given the magnitude of the climate extremes that we face, I don’t think anyone is prepared for the climate extremes that we are seeing,” Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya said in an interview with local broadcaster Citizen TV. “Some parts of this country have never seen flooding before.”
Experts say the devastating rains are the result of a combination of factors, including the country’s seasonal weather patterns, human-caused climate change and natural weather events.
However, observers note that the government received early warnings about the floods from the metrology department in October.
“This is hypocrisy and insensitivity of the highest level,” said human rights activist Boniface Mwangi. “The government knew the floods were coming and even set aside US$10 billion ($76 million) to prepare a nationwide response. What happened to those funds?
He said the government also abdicated its responsibility by allowing the construction of houses on land near rivers and swamps.
“Greed is the reason people die. Corrupt officials approved and issued riverine land titles,” he said.
And amid the death and destruction caused by the floods, the government is demolishing homes under the guise of generating development through a government affordable housing program, he said.
“Demolishing people’s homes in the name of affordable housing is a sign that our government is turning a deaf ear. People who live in shanties cannot afford to pay for houses that cost millions. With your lifetime salary you cannot buy any of the houses the government is building,” Mwangi said.
But what he considers most inhumane is the demolition of homes during the rainy season.
“Why would you kick someone out of their house in this season?” Mwangi asked. “The poor have been raped by the climate and brutalized by their government.”
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