KAREN IN NAIROBI BECOMES A SLUM

Karen was intended to be a tranquil and low-density neighbourhood. Spacious enough for well-loved pets to play and its inhabitants to enjoy their fortune under whistling trees and lush compounds.

That is no longer the case. Indeed, the leafy suburb is undergoing a human-inflicted transformation that is slowly turning it into a densely populated middle-class estate. This is the sad story of what used to be Karen.

New developments, violating the gazetted Karen Local Physical Development Plan, keep rising with each passing day. Most of these new constructions are said to be approved by rogue Nairobi City County staff who often act at the behest of unscrupulous national government officials.

The estate which for decades has been home to people of means; politicians, business people and corporate titans, has been turned into a play-field for reckless drunkards, prostitutes and busybodies; people with a very thin purse. It’s not a sin to hold a thin purse, only that this is Karen we are talking about.

Residents of Karen are losing sleep, and that’s because it cost them an arm and a leg to make Karen their home; a place they want to go back to every evening after the hustles and bustles of Nairobi.

“Karen is becoming another Kilimani, where unregulated flats are competing for breathing space. Laws have been reviewed in places like Kilimani and Lavington understandably to pave way for flats, but this is not the case with Karen. Residents here are being forced down this messy route,” says Duncan Munyua who is a member of the Karen and Lang’ata District Association (KLDA).

Illegal structures

“Prominent people including bosses at Nairobi County offices reside here, but majority of them do not want to raffle feathers. People like it here because of its tranquility and privacy, but that is ebbing away slowly. Those running away from chaos in Lavington and Kileleshwa are outraged with Karen”.

The leafy suburb which sits on 13,838 acres of land, is divided into six zones; Miotoni, Windy Ridge, Mbagathi, Bogani, Karen Plains and Karen Triangle.

According to Munyua, KLDA has objected to about 368 planned developments. Around 82 illegal structures have either been stopped, are undergoing construction or are already completed.

It seems even the big shots have lost their voice even as desecration of Karen continues. It is rumored that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga tried to stop an illegal church building in his neighbourhood, but the development went on anyway, with backing of City Hall officials.

Not long ago, city lawyer Charles Koech stopped the construction of a centre by The Seventh-Day Adventist Church along Mukoma road. According to him, ambiance in Karen is fading away because of “Corruption and impunity in City Hall”.

The SDA’s retreat centre was being put up on land registered under Cabinet Secretary Fred Okengo Matiang’i and former Commissioner of Lands Zablon Mabea. It is alleged its approval by County and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Director General Prof Geoffrey Wahungu was done without involving residents.

Koech stopped the construction in court, but many others; like a petrol station being put up by a sitting Senator has defied stop orders by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

“The illegal construction is still ongoing and no authority has succeeded in stopping it. How did City hall approve construction of a petrol station next to a homestead? Already, excavation works have caused cracks on nearby houses. Impunity is reigning in Karen,” a resident laments.

Projects are approved without residents’ input. In some cases, non-residents are hired to fill questionnaires and attend secret meeting to consent developments that have been objected by bonafide residents.

“We scrutinised list of people who approved a controversial high-rise bilding put up by the Chinese. When we rung them, they revealed that respondents were actually matatu operators, passersby and traders who were paid to participate on behalf of the residents,” Munyua reveals.

Even after the Chinese developer in their report admitted residents were opposed to the development, the three-storey office block with ten residential houses rose into the sky unabated. The National Environment Tribunal said it would not stop it because: “The appeal was filed outside the 60 days limitation period counted from the day NEMA issued an Environment Impact Assessment license”.

Karen is designated as a residential estate and the rule is one house per plot of half acre in Miotoni and Karen Plains. It’s almost the same case in Mbagathi, Bogani and Windy Ridge zones.

Multi-dwelling is permitted on 9.8 acres and zones set for businesses are Karen Shopping Centre, Hardy, Karen Triangle and Galleria.

However, developers start constructions without approval papers and when residents complain, county officials intervene with stop orders, but work resume days later with the developers having hurriedly prepared papers. And now, the damage has been done. City Governor Mike Sonko has accused suspended County Planning officials for the mess in Karen. Sonko admitted to being aware of mess even before he took over the county leadership.

“It is sad that some county and national government officials have confered on themselves powers to speak for residents of Karen from the comfort of their offices — without their consent. This is how once serene Lavington and Kileleshwa were messed up,” a resident of Miotoni laments.

Karen MCA David Mberia said that wazungus who have lived in Karen for decades are selling their plots, houses and relocating to Naivasha in search of tranquil areas to buy.

“You spend a lot to live here, but you are not any different from those living in crowded middle-estates,” said Mberia.

So far only one illegal property belonging to former Limuru MP George Nyanja has been knocked down by the Mike Sonko regime.

Uncontrolled, chaotic residence

In a past interview, former Rarienda MP Nicholas Gumbo told The Nairobian Karen was on verge of becoming uncontrolled, chaotic residence. He was damn right.

In a letter to KLDA dated October 28, Sonko admits culpability on his officers, but gives no satisfactory solution to the mess.

“I wish to assure you of my personal commitment to clean up the mess that has been occasioned in Karen” Sonko said.

But as the city governor promises action, an illegal petrol station along Karen-Lang’ata road whose construction was suspended by the National Construction Authority is going on.  NEMA okayed it, yet City Hall had approved it as a studio apartment in Lang’ata estate, and not a gas station in Karen.

Another building in the vicinity has scaled five floors yet the developer is unable to produce approvals when area association officials demands for them.

It is the same script along Warai Road, Karen Arcade Plains, Silanga Road Ndalat Road, Rhino Park road and Hardy area where impunity is rampant.

By The Standard