Nakuru City just like any other city continues to struggle with the challenge of eradicating informal settlements.

Some of these slums include the oldest Bondeni estate in Nakuru East, Kaptembwa and Rhonda in Nakuru West and Karagita, Kayole, Kihoto in Naivasha.

In the 2021/2022 Financial Year Nakuru County received Sh.429.7 million from the World Bank for urban development and upgrading of slums in Nakuru and Naivasha.

It involved improvement of drainage infrastructure, waste management, improvement of roads and installation of lights in the slums.

Kaptembwa slum with a population of more than 100,000 is one of the slums in Nakuru that benefited from the upgrade program.

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A spot check reveals several feeder roads that were not tarmacked in the area are now well done with proper drainage and street lights.

For locals, walking on well tarmacked roads with floodlights while crossing over properly constructed storm water drainage systems is a plus.

Other informal settlements that benefited include Kivumbini, Lakeview and Flamingo in Nakuru East where the drainage system was done afresh.

In 2015, through partnership with donors, the then Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua vowed to eradicate various slums in Nakuru.

However, eight years down the line with two other regimes having been in place this seems to be a tall order with various challenges being a hindrance to the same.

For instance, plans to upgrade the oldest slums in Nakuru- Bondeni estate have always hit a snag with some residents opposing it.

They claim the estate that sits some few metres from Nakuru CBD has rich culture hence eradicating it will lead to the death of the culture.

Read: My Hood: Bondeni Estate and Its Rich Swahili Culture

In an earlier interview with Mtaa Wangu, Mzee Mohammed Ali Maguna who has lived in Bondeni for many years noted that there should be stakeholders’ engagement before eradicating the slums.

A section of Bondeni estate in Nakuru that embodies a rich Swahili culture

Photo credit: FILE

“Some of the slums such as Bondeni have rich culture and you cannot just wake up and demolish the structures. There needs to be proper planning and engagement with residents,” he says.

The slums upgrading efforts have also encountered other numerous challenges such as complexities of slum settlements with regard to tenure arrangements as majority of slum settlements have no formal tenure arrangements.

However, according to the County Government of Nakuru’s Department of Lands, Housing and Physical Planning, partnership plans with World Bank are on through a project dubbed Developing Partnerships to deliver affordable housing, as well as the domestication of the national program for slum upgrading.

Ben Macharia from a lobby group dubbed Friends of Devolution points out that the eradication of slums in Nakuru is a process that will take years to be realized.

According to him, matters of housing should not be hurriedly done, rather all stakeholders should be brought on board.

“When you talk of eradicating slums, these are lives of people that you are touching on and therefore it should be done with some order,” he says.

This even as experts argue that the slums continue to pose environmental challenges to the residents due to air pollution.

Romanus Opiyo-a Research Fellow at Stockholm Environment Institute in an interview says with increased population and the slums menace, then there is need for more trees to be planted to keep the environment clean.

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“We know we have slums which pose a challenge to the environment but then we can embrace tree planting to help purify our air even as we plan on how to address the slums issue,” he says.

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Is eradication of slums in Nakuru city mere wishful thinking?

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Pristone Mambili