The growth of Kibera: from Nubian enclave to squatter real estate
Abstract
The next five chapters are concerned with one specific unauthorized
settlement within Nairobi called Kibera. Here we shall draw almost
exclusively upon our own fieldwork carried out at intervals between
April 1980 and December 1981. The precise details of the organisation
of the fieldwork and the methodology may be found in the Appendix.
In this chapter we shall give an outline of.the history of the
Kibera settlement before examining its social organisation and.housing
market in more detail in the subsequent chapters. This will of
d .1 necessity involve us in a consi eration of the Nubian community,
since historically Kibera has almost been their ethnic enclave. Hence
this chapter is partly a story about the destruction of their 'community'.
The main focus of this chapter is the transformation of Kibera
from an area controlled informally be the Nubian community to one
controlled by a Kikuyu dominated administration. This involves two
processes: firstly, a change in the ethnic composition of those who
control the settlement, i.e. from Nubian to Kikuyu and, secondly, a change
in the method of land control, i.e. from informal to formal.
Whereas previously there was a free-for-all in which allocation
of building land seems to have been informally restricted to the Nubians,
the local administration has now established a defacto land control
and allocation. Thus the local administration has been able to
establish control over who builds what where.
We shall argue that it is this local administrative control over
land that has greatly encouraged the commercialization of low income
housing by providing some security for capital investment lnhouse
building. This will also show the way members of the local administration
use their political position to further their own economic
interests and as a source of patronage.
This chapter illustrates two general points we are concerned
with involved in the rise of Kenyan capitalism. Firstly we shall see
it has a tendency towards the destruction of self-contained ethnic
enclaves and 'traditional' communities. Secondly we shall show the
way kinship and tribalism become used in instrumental ways to further
economic ends. More specifically the client-patron networks deriving
from the involvement of the local administration will become apparent.
This chapter is structured chronologically, the first section
concerns itself with Kibera until the 1960s during which time it
could be characterized as a Nubian enclave. The remaining sections
show how after the late 1960s a Kikuyu controlled administration
has gained control of the area's land use. Finally we shall examine
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
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- Research Reports [210]
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