The more than 492,000 residents of the Mukuru slums in Nairobi are losing more than Sh7 billion every year to cartels who control essential commodities and services in the area, a report has shown.
The report by civil organization and Kenyan universities in collaboration with the county government, shows the slum dwellers are forced to pay exorbitant rates for rent and other basic “inferior” services by the few people who control them.
“Slum residents pay more for services that are inferior to those provided in Nairobi’s formal housing estates,” reads the report.
It says that though only 3.6 per cent of the households in Mukuru have access to adequate bathrooms, and only 26 per cent have enough water, the residents pay 172 per cent more for water than customers in formal estates.
The report shows the informal land tenure has been the biggest contributor to extortion and other injustices the residents face. It states that most land in the area is privately-owned, mainly by absentee owners and developers.