Photo: Peter Lou / Pexels, file photo, cropped. Logo: KHRC.
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El Niño: rights group warns that moving families must not turn into forced evictions. Residents’ groups to help spread warnings.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has warned that moving families out of flood-prone areas before the El Niño rains could lead to new rights abuses if it is not done carefully.
In a statement on 28 September, KHRC executive director Davis Malombe said low-income families and people living in informal settlements would be hit hardest by the floods.
What KHRC is asking for
Find safe and affordable places for families before anyone is moved.
Involve communities in decisions about where and how people are relocated.
Keep health services, clean water, toilets and schooling going for families who move.
Share aid fairly, and publish how emergency money is spent.
KHRC pointed to 2024, when homes in Mukuru Kwa Reuben and Kiamaiko were pulled down before the deadlines people had been given ran out. Kibera was among the settlements flooded that year.
Where things stand in Nairobi
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said on 24 September that Nairobi has 227 flood hotspots across 17 sub-counties, including Kibera, Lang'ata, Madaraka and Nairobi West. The county has set up 27 drop-off points and shelters, most of them in schools. The heaviest rain is expected in the second and third weeks of October.
On Wednesday, 30 September, Governor Johnson Sakaja and the Kenya Alliance of Residents Associations (KARA) agreed that residents' groups will help pass on early warnings and identify the homes most at risk.
What it means for you
Ask your chief or ward administrator where your nearest shelter or drop-off point is.
If an officer tells you to move, ask for their name, their office, and where you are being asked to go.
Keep IDs, birth certificates and school documents together in a waterproof bag.
Read KNN's guide to getting your home ready for El Niño.
Sources: People Daily (KHRC), Eastleigh Voice (KHRC), (hotspots and shelters), The Star (residents' associations).
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has warned that moving families out of flood-prone areas before the El Niño rains could lead to new rights abuses if it is not done carefully.
In a statement on 28 September, KHRC executive director Davis Malombe said low-income families and people living in informal settlements would be hit hardest by the floods.
Graphic: Kibra News Network
What KHRC is asking for
Find safe and affordable places for families before anyone is moved.
Involve communities in decisions about where and how people are relocated.
Keep health services, clean water, toilets and schooling going for families who move.
Share aid fairly, and publish how emergency money is spent.
KHRC pointed to 2024, when homes in Mukuru Kwa Reuben and Kiamaiko were pulled down before the deadlines people had been given ran out. Kibera was among the settlements flooded that year.
Where things stand in Nairobi
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said on 24 September that Nairobi has 227 flood hotspots across 17 sub-counties, including Kibera, Lang’ata, Madaraka and Nairobi West. The county has set up 27 drop-off points and shelters, most of them in schools. The heaviest rain is expected in the second and third weeks of October.
On Wednesday, 30 September, Governor Johnson Sakaja and the Kenya Alliance of Residents Associations (KARA) agreed that residents’ groups will help pass on early warnings and identify the homes most at risk.
What it means for you
Ask your chief or ward administrator where your nearest shelter or drop-off point is.
If an officer tells you to move, ask for their name, their office, and where you are being asked to go.
Keep IDs, birth certificates and school documents together in a waterproof bag.
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.
