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Fact check: how many people lost their homes in the 2018 Kibera road demolitions?
The claim: The July 2018 demolitions for a road through Kibera left 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 people homeless, depending on the report.
Verdict: Unproven. The only counted figure is about 2,000 households, from the roads agency's own register. The people figures are estimates.
What happened
On 23 July 2018 the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) began knocking down homes at 6am, using National Youth Service bulldozers, to build a link road between Lang'ata Road and Ngong Road. The notice had expired on 16 July. KURA said about 2,000 households on 10 acres had been registered, and that houses and businesses would be compensated but land would not.
The different numbers
Al Jazeera (24 July 2018): at least 10,000 people homeless, 2,000 households, and seven schools demolished.
The Standard (August 2018): more than 20,000 homeless, for a Sh2 billion road, with no compensation for residents without title.
Citizen Digital: 30,000 affected, as about 300 residents went to court.
Two thousand households could plausibly hold 10,000 people or more, but no report published an actual headcount.
Earlier
On 31 August 2016 the High Court temporarily stopped KURA and its contractor from evicting Nubian residents of Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru for the Southern Bypass.
Full timeline: Kibra housing and evictions tracker.
Sources: The Star, Al Jazeera, The Standard via BHRRC, Citizen Digital, Housing and Land Rights Network
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The claim: The July 2018 demolitions for a road through Kibera left 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 people homeless, depending on the report.
Verdict: Unproven. The only counted figure is about 2,000 households, from the roads agency’s own register. The people figures are estimates.
What happened
On 23 July 2018 the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) began knocking down homes at 6am, using National Youth Service bulldozers, to build a link road between Lang’ata Road and Ngong Road. The notice had expired on 16 July. KURA said about 2,000 households on 10 acres had been registered, and that houses and businesses would be compensated but land would not.
The different numbers
Al Jazeera (24 July 2018): at least 10,000 people homeless, 2,000 households, and seven schools demolished.
The Standard (August 2018): more than 20,000 homeless, for a Sh2 billion road, with no compensation for residents without title.
Citizen Digital: 30,000 affected, as about 300 residents went to court.
Two thousand households could plausibly hold 10,000 people or more, but no report published an actual headcount.
Earlier
On 31 August 2016 the High Court temporarily stopped KURA and its contractor from evicting Nubian residents of Lindi, Mashimoni and Kambi Aluru for the Southern Bypass.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
