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{
    "id": 777020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 303,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "a single slum in Malaysia. When I was reading and hearing about it, I thought it was academic. I have been to Malaysia many times as a Minister, Senator and Member of Parliament for Commonwealth meetings and so on. Everybody in Malaysia is decently housed. They live in houses that have water, electricity and all other facilities, including internet. This is not difficult for us to achieve. The amount of money that has been gobbled up in the name of slum upgrading in this country could have eliminated all the slums. You remember the programme in Kibera and Highrise Estate where I think my distinguished brother, Sen. (Eng.) Mahamud, was a Permanent Secretary when they started. The programme was meant to develop high-rise structures and allocate them to people who live in squalor, so that they can lead decent lives. Studies have been done. The entire Kibera slum today can be condensed into less than 30 acres and the rest will be super real estate that can be used for other things. What they should do - and they did it in Malaysia - is that if you own a series of squalid structures that you have rented to people, and you collect so many little rents every month, you enter in to an agreement with the local or the national Government. If you earn, say, Kshs200,000 from your informal structures and the State builds a proper condominium on that parcel of land, you will have the first pick. If you want the ground floor or penthouse, there will be enough for you and your family to rent out and recover the lost rent on the land where you were squatting. The rest is allocated to other nationals who do not have houses. We can condense the whole of Kibera. Kibera is not a slum because it is in a bad neighbourhood. It is next to very upmarket neighbourhoods like Kilimani, Lavington, and Langata estates. It sits on a hill and most rich people want to live on the hills. If you go to Kampala you will see the seven hills. In fact, they are now 15. We can do this and change the lives of Kenyans. The amount of money being pilfered by elites can change the lives of Kenyans. Our planners should be the first to be taken to Uhuru Park and shot for not doing their job. Why do we have departments of planning in every set up and yet, nobody follows any plan? Today in this country, anybody with a parcel of land that touches on a road wakes up in morning and puts up a shop, nyama choma joint, bar or car wash. As soon as he puts it up, a kilometer away from any other settlement, he starts putting pressure on the leadership that he needs electricity, water, paved road and security, yet it is so easy to provide all these amenities where there is organised and planned settlement. In Nairobi, we had an opportunity as the town started growing – in East-lands. In the 1970s there was a conscious programme and plan to give way and show how planning should be done. That is why - I do not know if you came to the University of Nairobi before or after me - we had Buruburu phases 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 as settlements that were not high-end, slums and could accommodate the new emerging middle class. Straight from the university, you could afford rent in Buruburu Estate. The Commonwealth Development Corporation then moved in and developed Umoja 1 and Umoja 2. If you go to Umoja today it is a sorry sight. What was a good decent bungalow development, people have now built structures that look like they are “on-your-marks” ready to take off. Some look like shoots, others like chimneys and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}