Interview with Miloon Kothari, independent UN special
rapporteur on adequate housing
"When we visited the Ogieks, we found them in a state
of insecrity."
NAIROBI, 23 February 2004 (IRIN) - Miloon Kothari, the
independent special rapporteur on adequate housing of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)
was on mission in Kenya for two weeks in February.
While in Kenya, he examined the status of realisation
of the right to adequate housing and other related
rights in the country, with particular attention to
aspects of gender equality and non-discrimination.
In this interview, Kothari makes his observations on
the land and housing situation in Kenya, and on the
issue of transitional justice.
QUESTION: What is the aim of your mission to Kenya?
ANSWER: Part of the work that we do as rapporteur as is
to carry out investigation missions in countries. The
report will be submitted to the [UN] High Commissioner
for Human Rights.
Q: Why Kenya?
A: I am here at the invitation of the Kenya government
to look at the housing and land-rights situation in the
country. We do it at the invitation of the hosts.
Q: What does your mandate entail in this mission?
A: My mandate is quite broad. Firstly, to look at the
general situation of housing and the process of the
realisation of housing rights; specific situations of
vulnerable groups such as minorities, migrants, and
indigenous people. I also look at situations of
internal displacements, both in the rural and urban
areas, women's rights to property inheritance, as well
as issues of transitional justice.
Q: So how did you carry out the actual mission?
A: What we have been doing since we arrived is to meet
and discuss the housing policy issues with various
government ministry officials in Nairobi, chiefly in
the ministries of local government, roads and housing,
water resources and gender and sports. We also met with
the Parliamentary Select Committee on land and housing
rights. We went to the Kenya National Human Rights
Commission and had interviews with civic forums in
Nairobi and other towns in Kenya.
We travelled to major towns like Mombasa and Nakuru. We
went to rural areas like Makueni and Isiolo and spoke
with local authorities. We visited tribal clash
victims, who also testified. The idea is to compile a
land and housing report on Kenya. The report will go to
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Q: What general trends did you observe in your mission?
A: There are a few areas where we felt needed immediate
attention. Firstly, because of the past governments,
there has been across-the-board violation of housing
and land rights, especially of the poor and vulnerable.
Resources that were available have been diverted,
largely through corruption in the local authorities,
and the development of land cartels. The whole system
was involved in the dispossession that has taken place.
What compounded it, is the issue of land grabbing and
the creation of housing schemes for the poor that were
taken up by those who were not too poor.
Q: What are the major housing challenges in Kenya?
A: The challenge faced by the government is huge. You
have to reverse all the policies of dispossession. The
government has to ensure its models are based on
community or communal land rights. The policies of the
government in the past have not been based on the
recognition of the human rights of the Kenyan people.
Resources have only fed the needs of those who already
had land and wealth.
Q: What is the scale of the housing problem in Kenya?
A: It is very big, especially when you walk around and
see the destruction of infrastructure and high levels
of poverty. A lot has been destroyed which needs to be
rebuilt.
Q: In what ways can Kenyans who live in slums be
empowered to get decent, affordable housing, bearing in
mind the extreme poverty levels, poor economy and
rising cost of living in the country?
A: The creation of slums in Nairobi and other urban
centres is a sign of lack of planning. It is shocking
to see the scale of poverty across the country. When
you look at the gross inequalities which have led to an
apartheid situation in which a few people occupy the
large portions of land and large populations live in
small areas: a lot of it has come through political
corruption. It is obviously a creation of two Kenyas,
one with a lot of land and wealth, the other more
dispossessed.
The common thread should be how do you meet the needs
of the most vulnerable people, and human rights should
be the basic theme. If they want to discourage slums,
they must take clear action against the shack-owner
phenomenon and land mafia, which are connected with
local authorities.
Q: What are some of the major policy issues that Kenyan
authorities need to address in order to improve the
housing situation in the country?
A: The housing policies in Kenya are based on
individual ownership. When people sold their plots and
houses, it fed into the market. A lot of land
speculation has taken place, pushing housing out of the
reach of the poor. What happened historically,
especially in Isiolo and along the coast, is that
communities which were reasonably well off had their
resources taken away. They are now in a situation where
they have become squatters because, over the years,
their rights have not been recognised.
I don't see how housing for the poor can be based on a
system of individual ownership. I was very impressed
with the ministry of water resources, which has a model
that can be used in other ministries. They have
categorically refused the privatisation model and are
looking for another model. It is very good to see that
you can have a government where you have one ministry
which is not necessarily using a human rights argument,
but treats water as a common good. A similar thrust
should be used in housing.
Q: What is your assessment of the Narc [National
Rainbow Coalition] government's commitment to provide
decent housing? [Narc in December 2002 defeated Kenya
African National Union (KANU), which had ruled since
independence.]
A: The government, I believe, is trying to change the
past practices. The fact that I was invited to come
here is a clear sign of that. It is the first mission
on economic conditions in the country. I am sure they
are aware of the level of scrutiny this mission will
entail. However, the overall impression is very mixed.
I think there are many good people in government who
are trying to come to terms with the gross injustices
that have been committed in the past. But at some
levels, we still see business as usual.
Q: Is the Narc government on the right track in
addressing some of these challenges?
A: There seems to be a lot of energy spent on policy
formulation. What we would like to see is more results
on the ground, and perhaps a complementary move to show
some results. While addressing [policy], the government
should at the same time deal with emergency situations.
There are people who are threatened with eviction, who
have no water or sanitation.
Also there is a lack of information flow from the
government to the people. If you take the case of
land-clash victims and the indigenous forest
communities, you have a situation where there is no
clear strategy by the government to tell the people
what is going on.
When we visited the Ogieks [aboriginal forest dweller
community in western Kenya] they were very insecure.
What happens [is that] when there is a gap, the old
system takes over and the local authorities continue
with business as usual. They will carry on with
evictions. In most cases, it is the poor who are
affected.
And if you are serious as a government, you want your
credibility to improve and the international community
to assist, you have to take action. You can't say there
is a ban on logging in public forests when you are not
enforcing it.
Q: What can the UN do to help?
A: First of all, there is need for a national ownership
of processes. In the past, we have observed in many
developing countries that there is the expectation that
the international community will come to assist. For
example, a system of upgrading based on the assessment
of the situation needs to be put in place. Then the
bilateral partners, UN agencies and other international
organisations can come it. I don't believe in donor or
UN-led processes.
Q: Could you comment on the situation of the internally
displaced in Kenya?
A: There have been a lot of people affected by the
ethnic clashes in the 1990s. There is need to have a
clear and specific policy for dealing with this issue.
What is happening currently is that everyone is being
put in the same basket. Whether internally displaced by
clashes or because of migration to the urban centres to
look for work, or displaced in another sense, your
rights and specific needs must be addressed. It calls
for much more clarity and a sense of purpose for your
people.
QUESTION: The Narc government is currently involved in
the demolition of houses and structures illegally
constructed on road reserves and other public space
during the [former] KANU [Kenya African National Union]
regime. Can you comment on this?
ANSWER: I think this [demolition] is good, but it does
not seem to check on the impact on the poor. One must
be able to distinguish between those who violated the
rights and those who are innocent. Some of those who
get caught in these situations are only renting, and
their rights must be protected.
When you have a policy which is arbitrary, it creates a
situation where the credibility of the government is
called into question. There is need to [evolve] a clear
policy on evictions, an Act which would be based on the
considerable work that has been done by the
international human rights community, such as UN
guidelines on evictions and internal displacement. The
message here is that the government's policies should
always comply with its obligations under international
law. The policy of arbitrariness has to be removed.
Q: What are the major policy weaknesses?
A: The housing policy is very good on matters of
principle, because it has taken the position of right
to housing. However, there are three major weaknesses.
Its first major weakness is on implementation. The
second weakness is that it treats everyone equally
without placing any emphasis on vulnerable people. The
third weakness is that it recognises women's right to
housing and land, but this recognition is very
superficial. There has been a lot of discrimination in
that regard. This is an area that really requires a
focused treatment.
Q: What about the issue of transitional justice? What
can Narc do?
A: There are several committees and task forces that
have been set up to investigate past injustices. I
think this needs to be speeded up, and repossession of
public land has to start. They have to start doing it.
The longer you wait, the more chances it will be
difficult to do.
At the same time, the government needs to dismantle the
systems that have exploited the poor. The people who
benefited from the corrupt political system that was
there before have to be removed, because a lot of
resources get diverted.
Q: Narc has promised to build up to 150,000 housing
units for the poor in the next five year. Do you think
this is feasible?
A: I think sweeping statements do more harm than good.
And that is not the main need; the main need at the
moment is that of upgrading.
Source: UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit
