Transcript:
Sequence - Demonstration in Nairobi (In English):
"No more evictions! No more evictions! We don't want to be evicted anymore! This land belongs to us!"
Jack Omondi Papa - "in" sound during demonstration:
"Ghetto is our home, we are born there, we are supposed to die in ghetto! Anybody thinking that we're going to be removed, no! We are very sorry"
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"Today 8th December 2012 we are going for demonstration. 50 years since we got independence. But the slum dweller has got nothing to smile about. And that's why we are advocating for the right of our being in the slums. The right of owning the land which we are staying on."
Slates:
More than half of Nairobi's residents live in slums. Many face a constant risk of eviction by landlords who acquired their title deeds through corruption.
Jack Omondi leads a group of slum dwellers fighting their case in the courts.
They are suing several government bodies, and more than a dozen people, including former president Daniel arap Moi.
They want crooked title deeds cancelled and rights to the land they live on.
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"My name is Evans Omondi Jack Papa. I am born in Mukuru. I am sixty years old. I am a social village elder in Mukuru. There are people who came when we were on this land and they grabbed this land for their personal needs. They were grabbed in 1983 by those people who are well-connected to the state, either politicians, either administrators, either business persons...
I'm paying 1,000 Kenyan shillings a month (=12 US dollars) for rent. We have been facing very many evictions notices. My shack has been demolished several times, even more than 10 times, since the 1980s: 1980, 1982, 83, 84 and then the other ones started 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, and then the other started 2010.
(photo sequence of demolition)
They demolish everything, they carry everything, they leave you there to stay. The graders, or the bulldozers they are very fast. They just demolish and spoil everything, even your house belongings. It has become like a music, we are used to it...
We are fighting for our rights, we are fighting for our lives, we are fighting for the lives of our children and our grandchildren.
Jack Omondi Papa speaking with an old woman from the slum (in local language):
"What we are asking for is security of land tenure. We are asking for this land here, in Nairobi and in the whole of Kenya.
Jack Omondi Papa walking in the slum and talking to people on the street (in local language):
"Do you remember the demonstrations you went to? Tomorrow we are in court - over the same matter."
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"We went to the Muungano wa Wanavijiji and Akiba Mashinani Trust, an NGO championing for the rights of the poor people staying in the slums, we went to them and we had not any other option but to take the matter to court of law."
Jack Omondi Papa meeting with Jane Weru, the head of Muungano wa Wanavijiji and Akiba Mashinani Trust (in English):
- Hi
- Hi Papa!
- How are you? You're doing a great job.
- Thanks. And how are you guys in Mukuru?
Jane Weru, Head of Muungano wa Wanavijiji and Akiba Mashinani Trust (in English):
"Nairobi is really two cities in one. There's a formal city and an affluent city that's beautiful to live in. And then there is the other city which is very poor and very marginalized. Basically we have almost 65% of the population in Nairobi being squatters, that means that you do not have a right to be where you are. The land on which you live belongs to somebody else and at any time they can come and throw you out, if you have a house they can demolish it, and you cannot really develop yourself because you cannot develop the portion of land on which you live.
In the early part of this year we had so many communities coming to us with evictions notices, so we started to find out who the landowners were. And we discovered that these titles had been irregularly granted by the state. And therefore we decided to go to court to protect the slum dwellers against evictions because they all had eviction notices."
Slate:
The case was first heard in September 2012. The judge decided to suspend evictions until the matter is resolved.
Anthony Muriithi, Lawyer for Muungano wa Wanavijiji (in English):
"We are coming out of the darkness into light. We were in a very dark place as Kenya for 24 years, under president Moi. President Moi was president since 1978 until 2001. He ran a very corrupt regime who gave land to anybody who was in power, anybody who had access to him, anybody who had the money. So it was a case of the rich taking care of the rich. So he took the land and gave it to many of these respondents, and there were already people living there, on public lands. So first, the land has been corruptly issued, granted to these people. Now we have a new constitution and the constitution gives us right to land, right to sanitation, right to good housing... That's in the bill of rights. And the constitution gives the court the powers to enforce this bill of rights, or at least to protect the rights granted in the bill of rights.
It's historic, it's groundbreaking because should we succeed, we will have a foothold upon which to stand and claim the public land which was given to a select few, a favoured few, a rich few at the expense of the masses in this country."
Ident: Mukuru, 6am (people going to work)
Jack Omondi Papa (in Kiswahilli):
"We are going to court to block the eviction case against people from the Mukuru slums. Therefore all of us from Mukuru Ruben, Mukuru Njenga and on behalf of all the slum dwellers of Nairobi, we have taken 14 of the landowners who want to evict us to court. They all live in two-acre plots while we are living in 10-by-10 feet shacks. Therefore, we're going to court. And we want all the informal settlement dwellers in Nairobi to come together in unity. So that we can win and be issued documents guaranteeing security of land tenure. This will guarantee that when you build your stone house no one will interfere with your project. I urge all of you to remain together in this matter."
Friend of Jack talking to someone on the minibus (in Kiswahilli):
- The poor people are the ones ho work the most
- Yes, exactly
- And they are the ones who suffer the most.
- Its true.
Jack Omondi Papa talking to his neighbor in the minibus:
"We cannot allow again what happened (evictions and demolitions) in Mukuru Njenga. We must fight with these people until the end.
Politicians only need us during election time. After the elections they just forget about us.
We have problems at home. We can't even rent a house for 5,000 shillings ($60) f you're salary is 8,000 or 10,000 shillings. So we are obliged to live a very minimal existence. Otherwise we can't feed our families...
We must stay united and help each other. This fights I not for just one person."
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"Nothing comes from goodness. Unless you struggle, unless you fight. And that's why although we know this fight is going to be difficult, because we are fighting with those people who are holding the economy of this country, we shall keep on fighting until the last minute."
(In the courtroom)
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"Before 2010, before the new constitution, we didn't trust the courts. But now we have a trust in our courts after reform. And we are not going to leave this mater. And if the court, the high court, is going to rule it against us we shall appeal to the Supreme court. If the Supreme court doesn't listen to us, or rules the case against us we shall continue to the East African court, and if the East African court also rules against us we are going to the African Union and if the African Union doesn't listen to us, the condition will force us to take this matter to the UN because we belong to the people of the world."
Judge (in English):
"18th or 19th January? Let's take the 18th. Thank you."
Anthony Muriithi, Lawyer for Muungano wa Wanavijiji (in English):
"Now what is happening today is that none of the respondents have responded. But we have so many other people seeking to be enjoined to the case, so what is happening is that we're coming back in January, then we'll know each other. Everyone who is interested in the matter will have come in, everyone who has paperwork to file will have filed, so it's a question of waiting until the 18th of January next year."
Jack Omondi Papa (in English):
"We are not feeling well, because we want this case to be finished so that we can return back at home, to our slums where we are staying, where our hearts are free. Because we are representing almost 300,000 people and they cannot all come here. So they rely on the information they are going to get from us. 70% of Kenyans are staying in slums and why? This is a very big question. So we know we shall succeed, we shall not be defeated in this case."
Slate:
Postscript - December 2013
The lawsuit made no headway in the courts in 2013. Jack Omondi hopes a hearing will take place early 2014.
ENDS.
Music credits:
Courtesy of Hicham Chahidi
Courtesy of Andy Blurry
Photos: Akiba Mashinani Trust