While on a recent trip to Kenya, I had the opportunity to visit a CRS project in Nairobi. I along with four others went to a peace building project sponsored by Catholic Relief Services and the Archdiocese of Nairobi.

Historical Profile:

Kibera is derived from the Nubian word Kibra meaning a bush/jungle. It is a slum dwelling located southwest of the Nairobi City center. It has a population of about 800,000 people. The main structures are made of mud or wooden walls with corrugated iron sheets roofs. There are no utilities or infrastructure (i.e., roads, electricity, water or sanitation) in 90% of the slum.

Before the British colonialists came to Kenya (1890s) Kibera was part of the Masaai grazing land. Around 1917 the colonial government took over the land and converted it into a military training found in preparation for the 1 st world war for the carrier corps (KAR- King’s African Rifle). The most prominent members of KAR were the Nubian community, a Nilotic group originating from Sudan. Later, Nubian soldiers who had served for 12 years in the war were allocated Kibera by way of temporary permits provisioning for temporary residence. After the war, the community started using the land for sustenance of their livelihood through farming.

Later from around 1928, some Kikuyu workers employed in the adjacent European settlements serving as gardeners and house helps settled in Kibera as tenants. By the time of the declaration of the Mau Mau Emergency in Kenya in 1952, this group had become quite dominant in the area. A cultural weak through intermarriage had developed. However, after the emergency declaration, the Kikuyus were forced out of Nairobi. Their jobs were taken by members of the Luo and Luhya communities.

After Independence in 1963, more communities streamed into Kibera due to its relative neutrality and closeness to places of work. They could not afford proper housing from their minimal income (casual employment) and consequently started building cheap slum structures. Each community started settling into exclusive ethnic villages. These include Silanga, Laini Saba, Lindi, Mahsimoni, Ksumu Ngogo, Soweto, Kianda, Makina, Ayany, Raila, Kichijo, Quarry, etc. There are three subclasses: a) Temporary residents: Mainly Luo, Luhyia and Kamba who are tenants with no claim to structure ownership. They pay monthly rent and expect to move out once their economic situation improves; b) Permanent Residents: Mainly Nubians, original founders of Kibera. These depend on rental income for structures and claim total ownership of land; c) Landlord/Business owners: Mainly Kikuyu who have bought spaces and built structures. Some live in Kibera while others are “outside landlords.”

Land Ownership:

All land in Kibera is legally Government Public land. It has never been formally allocated to the claimants. The land issue is perhaps the most emotive and complex. It is largely the underlying source of conflict and violence. Its history of heterogeneous settlement and legal regime technicalities complicate abilities to pin specific and rightful ownership claims to it.

Peace building in Kibera:

Due to these historical claims to land inter-ethnic tensions fueled by wrangling “tribal” political chiefs, Kibera experienced violence in 1996 and 2001-2002. The latter was sparked by incitement by political leaders exploiting these underlying tensions on house rents and claims to land ownership. On October 31, 2001, at a harambee presided over by then president Mr. Daniel Moi, the District Commissioner was instructed to ensure rents were reduced by 50%, a decision that met stiff resistance from private landlords. The landlords were then set upon by Talibans, a militia grouping of mainly Luo members. A killing spree ensured and at least 15 people with property of unknown value destroyed.

It is against this background that the Archbishop of Nairobi decided to intervene to heal and resolve these hurts. A baseline survey to determine the root causes and possible solutions was launched. While the concept for peace building was born in 2003, the project started in April 2004 as a pilot project covering Kibera and Kariobangi parishes.

The Archdiocese of Nairobi has 104 parishes and almost all of them have similar problems to the ones in Kibera. Nairobi has 200 slums lying in the heart of any major settlement. These provide the cheap labor in the forms of cooks, gardeners and guards to the middle and upper class residents.

The project uses village and parish based leaders in peace building call Parish Ecumenical Consultative Committees (PECC) or Peace and Conflict Transformation Committees (PCTC) to build bridges among the conflicting parties.

At the youth level, group networks are developed to address issues affecting the youth. These meet regularly to address various issues (the youth form about 80% of the population in Kibera), such as unemployment, crime, violence, business skills training, savings mobilization and financing, rape, assaults, drugs and alcohol abuse, etc. They explore and monitor conflict triggers, determine crime black spots and by working with the Archdiocesan team and other parish departments find sustainable solutions.

School peace clubs target the school children to teach them about peace and expose them to the root causes of conflict. These are in primary, secondary schools and informal vocational centers in the parish. Plays, poems, music, traditional dances and songs are some of the media used to communicate peace messages. Annually a peace festival is held that brings together all peace club members from the different schools and zones to share their experiences and hold a competition.

Through the Diocesan Catholic Justice and Peace movement and by networking with other stakeholders, long-term capacity building to guarantee continuity in the work of peace building is enhanced. A parish annual symposium is organized to celebrate peace during the month of November. In March, the people are mobilized through the Lenten campaign to sensitize them on issues of justice, peace, human rights, equality and gender empowerment, environmental preservation and equitable distribution of wealth. The project is far from achieving these noble goals, the vision is kept alive and hope is not lost.