19
Jul
An interaction with John Njehia, a fellow with the FPAF, will immediately reveal his keen sense of purpose in the work he does – advocacy for the urban poor in the ensuring of security of land tenure and proper housing. His area of focus is largely in Nairobi’s Mathare ‘informal settlement’ schemes. John is an active member of the Muungano Wa Wanavijiji, Federation of Slum Dwellers, movement.
During a visit with John several weeks ago, we had the privilege of better appreciating the movement’s struggles and efforts in pursuing the needs of the urban poor in Mathare. In Mathare-Mabatini, the movement was started back in 2007 right after the post-election flare up.
At Mabatini, like any other branch of Muungano, as they often call the movement, the core and heart of their work is driven my communal unity as demonstrated by their joint housing plans and saving schemes. Case in point is the enumeration exercise conducted in the Mabatini community that established the presence of about 210 permanent households who would consequently be the beneficiaries of the housing scheme. The actual building of homes in Mabatini has not yet commenced as they grapple with several challenges. Their initial planning scheme of single units with two rooms, bathroom and kitchen had to be reviewed citing the projected cost Vis a Vis the economic capacity of the community members. There is also the matter of land grabbing by fraudulent private developers and their respective court cases. The other matter is one of good will from the Nairobi County government where the members of this section of Muungano were threatening mass action if a certain individual of ill-repute with the community was to be appointed as a county cabinet secretary.
The housing projects of the Muungano usually require members to save up upto 10% of the net cost of bringing up a house in whatever scheme a member belongs. Then the scheme tops the amount up with another 10% and the rest 80% is given as a loan by the Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT) which is the financial subsidiary of Muungano. This loan is then to be repaid in a period of eight years on an agreed upon interest rate.
Other than housing, Muungano also works on the issue of water and sanitation like the case is with Mathare-Kosovo area where John is a resident. The same method of operation runs; in this instance Muungano struck a deal with the Nairobi Water Company where Kosovo residents could get clean piped water installed direct to their homes at a subsidised rate. Muungano was the guarantor in this water project with the Water Company.
One thing John profoundly appreciates is the collective bargaining power the community posses under the umbrella of Muungano. Pushing issues as several Networks of the Movement comes with unimaginable clout. An example of such was when the Kosovo Muungano scheme fought the deterrent efforts of the then MP in their water project back in 2009. The whole of Muungano Mathare Network rallied together a match to the city centre offices of the said legislator. Eventually Muungano had its way. This collective force has also seen successful land tenure negotiations with the Kenya Air Force base where a deal between the inhabitants of Mathare-Mashimoni and the said air base was struck.