118 | Slum Profiles | Pumwani Division (Pumwani Village)
This settlement is divided into 4 smaller settlements of Sofia, Mashimoni, Katanga and Digo. It has been partially upgraded, especially the Digo section, and was started in 1921 by the colonial government serving as a camp for domestic workers of the colonial settlers. The occupation then was that of a single occu-pant per plot that today has a population of 15 households. There are unconfirmed claims that the political leadership of this nation was housed here at one time or another, e.g. the late Tom Mboya. The very first offices of the late President Kenyatta during the struggle for independence are said to have been located in this settlement. This is manifested today by the Kikuyu Mau Mau association in this estate.
On attainment of independence, the owner-ship of these structures moved to the occu-pants and some to the City Council. Those that belonged to the City Council were later sold to the public at a price of Ksh.300 per plot in 1966. However, there are still a few structures that are owned by the City Council, especially around Sofia.
Those who could not afford to buy the plots were pushed into constructing extensions on the open lands that were available to them at the same place. They view themselves as owners because they have either lived here for too long or do not have any other place to call home or own the extensions and see their structures being equal to the other plots. This position has posed a problem in the issuance of titles and other documentation for land ownership, even though the survey process had already been completed in 1995-1997. Allocation letters for these lands were issued but only a portion accepted these documents.
The refusal of allocation letters was because these documents have an expiry period and there is the need for money for the processing of these documents. However, most of the landlords are incapacitated because the rents are too low or tenants have refused paying, citing their long stay in these houses as a warranty for ownership. There is a claim that the residents have a working arrangement with the National Housing Corporation to undertake the upgrading process and construct other high-rise buildings as it did in 1987, and have all who live in this settlement benefit.
No incidences of eviction have ever been re-ported, although the rich owners of the main plots frequently harass those owning the extensions.
There have also been very few cases of fire out-breaks. The land here is private and was allocated to different individuals shortly after independence. The majority of the owners, however, do not possess any legal document to the claim that they own the said parcels of land.
Total land size is put at 25 acres.
Population
Population estimates are put at above 25 000 people. There are 250 main plots, each having an average of 15 rooms with an average occupancy of 6 people per room, and 120 extensions with 8 rooms each with an average of 4 people per room.
Services
•95% of the main plots in the area that has not been upgraded are mud houses. 45% of these have cemented floors while the other 65% either have not had cemented floors or the cement on the floors has since chipped out.
•55% of these structures are serviced with electricity. 15% of the extensions are serviced with electricity.
•Rents in these structures vary with the condition of the room. Rooms costing Ksh. 2 500 a month are serviced with electricity and have a cemented floor. These constitute the 5% that has been built using stone. Those costing Ksh. 300 have un-cemented floors and without electricity connection.
• Old houses that have not witnessed any changes since they were constructed go for be-tween Ksh. 700 and 300.
•Extensions, on the other hand, go for between Ksh.1, 500 and 1000 for stone /iron sheets rooms, a good percentage of which are cemented.
•The tenancy of the old houses is mainly by people who started living in this settlement in the 1960’s to 1970’s.
•There are cases of high goodwill of up to Ksh.10 000 being asked for tenancy.
•Water is served into this estate through the City Council, who do not charge for the service, and through a local project, Azimio Water project who charge 1/= for a 20-litre can.
•There are a number of schools that serve this settlement, including St Brigitte’s, Starehe, BP, Muslim, Dr Aggrey and others.
•There are several hospitals here and they include private, religious and public. There are several community health workers also in this community.
•Access is by the use of paths and roads. This has been possible because most of the estate is well planned except where there are extensions that interfere with the original plan.
•There are a total of 14 toilet structures in the settlement. Each of these structures has 12 latrines and 4 shower bathrooms. The latrines are connected to the main sewer and are constantly served with water because these places act as points for the Muslim community to pre-pare for their prayers.
•There are drainage dikes in the settlement that serve well for drainage of both domestic and rainwater. They also have routine community clean-ups in the settlement.
Economic Activity
An average of one person per household is employed. The other population of adults is involved in small-scale businesses and/or in-formal employment in the nearby Gikomba market.