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{
    "id": 777256,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777256/?format=api",
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    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I did not have time to interrogate the Sessional Paper because it was not availed to me in good time. The first time I interacted with it was yesterday. I had a glimpse of it. Therefore, I am standing here as a friend of the people living in the slums. That is why I want to contribute to this Motion. I have been a neighbour to people living in the slums of Kibera for almost seven years. There are many things that I have learnt from slum dwellers. I realised that, one; they are there because they are looking for space. Everyone in Nairobi and all other urban areas is looking for space to call a home. It is much in order for people to look for space to live. I was looking at the Maslow hierarchy of needs which states that housing is a basic need. Everyone wants to have shelter, food and clothing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, people are not in the slums by choice, but they lack alternatives. Some people have found themselves in the slums because their parents lived in the slums. They were brought up in the slums and eventually because of the cyclic nature of poverty, they did not have good education and they were not able to branch off from the slums. This Sessional Paper is anchored on Article 43(1)(a) to (f) of the Constitution. It clearly stipulates that there is need for everyone to have shelter, clean water and education. However, even as we think of adopting it, there are issues to be addressed. For example, I mentioned that some people are not in the slums by choice, but they found themselves there. When it comes to slum upgrading, there are pertinent issues that we need to consider. In the event of upgrading slums, what will happen to the families living there? Will they be accorded units of houses in the upgraded scheme? For example, I know of a situation when Majengo Slum was upgraded. The people who were supposed to benefit from that scheme ended up not benefiting at all. When their houses were upgraded, their fathers sold the units. The children were left homeless and they went back to slum life. Even as we upgrade, there is need to find out how we will help people living in the slums to posses the units that have been upgraded and, thereafter, be the rightful owners. The children also need to be protected so that they can eventually get an education and move away from the slums. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are people who would be very annoyed if the slum of Kibera went on fire. That slum is a hot business place for some people. There are some people who come from as far as Europe to see the slums and how poor Kenya is. It is like a tourist attraction. Upgrading the slums will stop the menace of people coming all the way from the West to visit them. People should only visit the slums if they genuinely want to eradicate poverty. It is also a hotspot for many people who have many briefcase projects. I support the upgrade. However, there is also need to avail clean water for people in the slums because it is a constitutional requirement. When I look through my window, especially when it is raining, I wonder how people in Kibera Slum manage. There are usually a lot of floods which prevent them from moving with ease from one place to the other. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will always find a slum in every well-to-do estate. Most of the time people living in the slums service the people living in the well-to-do 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."
}