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emunenen · 4 years

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Makao Bora

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Area Code -South C Estate, also known as southside or South Compton

South C (also known as southside or South Compton) is a middle-class residential estate located in the southland area of Nairobi.

South C lies next to Wilson Airport. It is bordered by South B to the East, Langata Estate to the west and the Nairobi National Park to the south.

It was meant to be an upmarket neighbourhood. But South C, which was designated for settlement by Asians in the colonial days, is slowly deteriorating.

What was once a neat, small neighbourhood with a few people and controlled development has now ballooned into a home for thousands of inhabitants and sprawling buildings.

South C is now home to highrise buildings that go up to 11 storeys, even though the suburb is under Zone 10, where buildings should not go beyond two storeys.

Makeshift structures have also cropped up, with the estate now hosting three informal settlements — Cotton slums, Bypass slum and Mataa village.

Mr Kuldeep Singh Nayer, whose family was among the first to settle in the estate, says that the plot where South C stands was allocated by the colonial government between 1956 and 1957 to Asians, who could not be allowed into European settlements such as Karen.

The original South C was a big rectangle with crescent courts and no fences or perimeter walls, and being just 200 metres from the Nairobi National Park, wild animals would freely graze in the area, peacefully co-existing with the residents.

“It started as a small estate with only three houses built 100 metres from each other on 50 by 100 plots. We were the first occupants in the area, with my father building our house in 1957. I was a small child then, about nine years,” he said. “There were no small estates that now make up the (South C) ward. It was a quiet area and you would drive home in the evening nudging your way among the wild animals.”

The ward, which is now part of five such wards making up Lang’ata Constituency – others are Karen, Nairobi West, Nyayo Highrise, Mugumu-ini – used to be part of Nairobi South Constituency.

The houses were either single- or double-storeys and no development was allowed to go any higher, with all of them single houses, except for two areas that had flats, where multiple dwelling was allowed.

“In 1963, we watched the entire independence celebration (in Uhuru Gardens) as then we had a clear view,” he says.

At the time, there were no access roads and if one wanted to move to the neighbouring Nairobi West, they had to go to Mombasa Road, then to the Nyayo roundabout and finally to Nairobi West.

“I used to walk to Highway Secondary School to and fro. There were no matatus and no traffic. We would even go back home for lunch and go back in the afternoon,” recounts Mr Nayer.

However, post-independence, the neighbourhood began to open up, fueled by the tarmacking of roads, which enhanced accessibility.

But even by the end of the 60s, there weren’t that many people.

Slowly, other estates started coming up and South C started expanding and evolving and many original owners sold their houses and moved out. Original owners from the 1970s and 80s have also handed down their houses to younger generations.

Today, haphazard development, with sprouting highrises to accommodate the ever-growing population, has put a strain on resources, with water availability now a problem. The sewerage is stretched and social amenities crowded.

“The turnover of house owners has been quite alarming – changing hands several times. On my street, I am probably the only original owner left. The crescents have now transformed into estates. The older people will feel the beauty of the place has been spoilt,” observes Nayer.

South C Residents Association chairperson Ranjanah Raj, who has lived in the estate for the past 20 years, concurs with Nayer, saying what has been witnessed in the area is “forced development” fueled by its strategic location as it is only a five-minute drive to the Wilson Airport and 10 minutes to the city centre.

Bungalows hosting a single family have been demolished in favour of high-rise flats with dozens of residents.

Investors, both local and international, are trooping in to cash in on the land value that has increased over time, further fuelling the trend.

Raj points out that South C now has a population of more than 100,000 despite services and resources not growing in tandem.

Currently, she explains that there are close to 100 mini estates in South C, some with between 350 and 400 houses, with no social amenities to match.

“Our infrastructure is 45 years old, meaning our roads are six metres, not 12, sewerage lines six inches, not 12 and we have no culverts, yet we are in a basin. When it rains, water from Nairobi West, Mombasa road and Lang’ata all converges at South C, turning it into a sea,” Raj laments.

“We have sewerage bursting into houses almost every rainy season. We also only get water once, every Wednesday. It has changed for the worst. South C is now a total mess. Approvals have been given without due considerations.”

Informal settlements are slowly sprouting in the area, with Cotton slum – which started by housing casual labourers working at Wilson Airport –, Bypass slum made up of 100 families kicked out of land belonging to Moi Educational Centre and Mataa village behind Kongoni School that borders Kenya Power sub-station.

“We call it the second Eastleigh (the populous neighbourhood in Eastlands with hundreds of flats). Maybe a degree or two posher than Eastleigh. When the government locked down Eastleigh, we got an influx of 75 per cent of its inhabitants coming to stay in South C,” she adds.

However, Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir has blamed City Hall for the current state of South C pointing out that planning is a function domiciled with the county government.

He warned that South C is going to be a pool of flats if the current trend is not controlled as the county government has been issuing approvals to change developments from single user to storey buildings.

Read the whole story on Nairobi News

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amanby · 8 years

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Q&A Responses

Thanks for all the questions, everyone. Boy, did I have a hard time filtering through them all to pick the best ones! And here they are…

—————–

Sally, Geneva:

- What I would like to know is…how do you calculate how much money you should have on you at any one time? Enough to cover expenses but not enough to tempt anyone to rob you?

xx Granny

Good question Granny! In my wallet, which I keep in my pocket, I always carry no cards, and very little cash: the equivalent of £10 at most, which is enough for any meal, hotel room, bar bill or bus ticket. If that gets pickpocketed, it’s not the end of the world (although I would lose some precious beer labels)

Now here’s the ingenious bit: my very talented mother, who also happens to be your very talented daughter, improvised a secret pouch by sewing together some curtain lining, a bag strap and a zip, which I always wear around my waist, tucked into my shorts or trousers. It’s completely invisible, and in there I hold larger amounts of cash, my cards and my passport. If I need any of the above, I just nip to a toilet and reshuffle things!

Kit, USA:

- Have you had any nervous times while sleeping in your tent?

One occasion stands out. Sleeping on a quiet beach on Pemba, Tanzania, I woke up to the sound, smell, and heat of a brightly-burning nearby fire; my immediate reaction was that the local chief had objected to my unauthorised camping and was taking extreme measures against it! Fortunately, it was actually just a fisherman keeping himself warm with a bonfire while waiting for dawn to break.

- Are most things still relatively inexpensive even when you suspect you are getting ripped off?

Compared to Europe, definitely. I’ve found living on $15 a day pretty comfortable. But I’ve been surprised by the cost of any tourist activity here: tours and national park fees are significantly higher than in South America, for example.

- What has been your favorite beach or body of water?

Phwoar, that’s a tricky one! Diani in Kenya or Zanzibar would be the obvious choice for a postcard beach, but given my previously limited experience of freshwater lakes, I’ll go for one of the great Rift Valley lakes. Malawi was a perfect colour and temperature, but I’m going to choose a small beach at Jacobsen’s campsite on Lake Tanganyika; I had it all to myself at a time when I was still limping around with blisters and sore feet post-walk, and to lie half-submerged in the water for hours on end, reading my book, was unforgettable.

Charles, London:

- Alex, what has been the best way to engage the locals and not be the Mzungu? In which country has it been easiest?

Yo midge! Short answer: it’s been difficult to not be seen as the white man in every country. I was expecting it to an extent but have been surprised how, even in multicultural cities like Nairobi, I still attract so much attention based on the colour of my skin just walking around.

The way locals react to the mzungu differs: in Kenya and Zanzibar they’re more used to it and boisterously try their tricks to get money from you. In Ethiopia, there’s widespread begging (“hello, pen! Hello, money!”) whereas in Malawi and Rwanda they tend to sit and stare as you pass by. In Rwanda it was also a game of bravado for the kids in front of their friends, asking for money (“givameyamornee”), but only once I’d walked past, and never in any expectation of receiving it.

In terms of not being the mzungu, I’ve had most success sitting in the white Toyota Hiace matatus which serve as public transport everywhere. There, it’s a given that the person I’m sitting next to and I will be in each other’s company for some time, so conversation starts and continues on a more level footing than it does in other situations.

Premier League football, and particularly The Arsenal, is also a good leveller. And having a sense of humour and learning at least the basics of each language has definitely helped too.

But obviously my time with Moses and his family was the great success from this point of view. For me, this trip is a travel one more than a project one (like Ecuador or New Caledonia); but certainly, the best way to fit in would be to stay in the same place for an extended period of time, properly integrated into local life and serving a palpably useful purpose.

Angus, London:

- What role have you seen Islam play in day to day life out there? HOT TOPIC

Hot topic indeed, and an appropriate one for this relentlessly hard-hitting blog. Which is also the reason why some of your frankly lewd and ungodly questions will not be getting an answer on here, Angus.

Well, given its historical trade with the Middle East, the coast has a far greater Islamic influence than inland, and this has been evident from Mombasa to Zanzibar to Ilha de Mozambique, manifesting itself particularly obviously in dress and architecture.

In my limited experience, it seems to me that domestic conflicts tend to be drawn on tribal rather than religious lines; Ethiopia is a good example of this, where muslims and orthodox Ethiopian christians from Oromo and Amhara provinces are equally frustrated by perceived (and real) preferential treatment received by the Tigrai. There, as elsewhere, communities seemed to me to be pretty tolerant of different religious practices.

I have to mention one notable exception, which was a Christian conference in Dar Es Salaam entitled ‘How to Stop the Spread of Islam in East Africa’, which I unwittingly got caught up in when I caught the bus from Dar to Nairobi, sitting next to an attendee preacher and telling him straight off the bat about my atheistic beliefs. Cue 16 hours of frantic questions as he tried to save my soul…

- There’s a lot of geopolitical talk about which superpower is gaining influence in Africa: whether it be China, Russia, or the US. Have you seen any discernible evidence of this, and if so, what do you think the prospects are for the continent?

Well the Chinese are very visible in infrastructure construction throughout Africa. Apparently the deal they offer to all countries is to build their roads for free (employees and materials) in exchange for extraordinarily preferential rates on trade deals.

Lots of grains get carried around in recycled USAID bags, so our friends Stateside clearly have influence based on the reliance countries have on their charity. Let’s see how that one pans out…

And I’ve seen nothing at all of the Russians. Which probably means their spies and hackers have got fingers in all sorts of dodgy pies.

- What’s the best song you’ve heard out there?

Not sure I’ve heard this year’s Christmas #1 just yet. Although today I was treated to a live performance of Wrecking Ball by Mozambique’s answer to Billy Elliot, a young boy dancing naked on the beach using an empty plastic water bottle (which I’d given him five minutes earlier) as a microphone.

- How are you avoiding the pitfalls of the gapyah traveller - immersing yourself in poverty tourism to make for some authentic life experiences - and have you bumped into any western tossers who encapsulate this?

I’m in two minds about this. On the one hand, I do think that westerners can - and should - try to exert a positive influence during their visit. Giving dollars to white, western hotel and tour company owners doesn’t tick this box. And if I didn’t believe this, then I’ve wasted a lot of time in several continents since leaving school.

Having said that, oh yes, I’ve met a few 'egotourists’ and they can be excruciating. One self-satisfied English girl who had just painted a school wall and was so happy with herself that she’d tell anyone who would listen all about it was particularly painful. Nicely painted schools is not the answer to the issues this continent’s children have in their search for an education.

- If a gun was put to your head tomorrow and you were told you had to settle in Africa and start a business immediately, what would that business be?

Easy. I’d expand the Uganda Youth Football League to create a business arm to work alongside the charity. We’d be the agents to complement the coaches and get East African kids into European leagues.

And don’t worry about the gun, I’m seriously contemplating doing it of my own free will!

Nicky, London:

- Where are you planning to go in South Africa?

'Planning’ is not a word I would associate closely with this trip, Mum!

Seriously, I have little idea. Rambo is flying out on some trumped up excuse of a job, and his time is more precious than mine, so I’m leaving the itinerary for our ten days together to him. Which, as his former landlady, you’ll realise is a risky strategy…

Things I’d like to do (during my time with Rambo or in the two weeks after, when I’ll be on my own again): see relatives, walk Drakensburg, traverse Lesotho, visit St. Marks, explore the south east, watch live sport, learn to kite surf, enjoy comforts of Cape Town…

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ramialkarmi · 7 years

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These flashy taxi buses are all over Kenya, and they come with a dark past

Kenyan taxi buses, or "matatus," are all over Nairobi and outlying cities.

They're privately owned and decorated both inside and out, and their low cost makes them extremely popular for getting around.

However, they've carried a reputation for violence and harassment for decades.

All around Kenya, plumes of black smoke get coughed from the tailpipes of colorful mutatus, the privately-owned taxi buses that ferry people around the city and suburbs.

For around $0.20 a ride, passengers can step inside a flashy bus or truck blaring rhythm-heavy music, and cram into a hot, muggy seat surrounded by a dozen other people. On a busy day, someone might be hanging onto the back.

Mutatus have spent the better part of the last several decades building up (and then trying to shed) a reputation for violence and harassment of passengers. And today, as Kenya's government tries to eliminate mutatus in favor of larger, more efficient buses, the old-school transport method is on the verge of extinction.

Here's what they're all about.

SEE ALSO: I visited a baby elephant orphanage in Kenya — here's what it was like

Kenyan mutatus are all owned by one of 600 Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizatios, or SACCOs, the government associations that regulate buses.

Source: Standard Media

Until 2015, laws strictly prohibited owners from decking out their mutatus in flashy paint or bright colors. Then that law was repealed, opening the floodgates for inventive designs.

Source: Nairobi Today

The newfound freedom has made for eye-popping vehicles that roam through cities and countryside. Most of the vehicles are safe, but it wasn't always this way.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

#Tech Insider #Arab #Entrepreneurship #sillicon alley insider

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