África Subsaariana

Families evicted from Maela land in Kenya

Published in Tuesday January 15th, 2013 In In the media

Tension is high in the volatile area of Maella Naivasha after APs evicted several families from a piece of land. The heavily armed officers raided Ngambani village destroying property worth thousand of shillings.
Maize crops were destroyed during the early morning eviction supervised by senior AP officers. The officers said the land in question had been set aside for the construction of an AP post. Families affected threatened to hold a demonstration and called on Lands minister James Orengo to intervene as the issue has raised anxiety in the area.

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Fires Rip Through Cape Town Slum in South Africa

Published in Friday January 4th, 2013 In In the media

At least three people died and thousands were left homeless after several fast-moving fires swept through a crowded slum at the edge of Cape Town on Tuesday, the South African Press Association reported. The fires broke out in a crowded township called Khayelitsha just before dawn, catching many residents as they slept.

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Raging Floods And Mudslides Cause Chaos Across Kenya

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013

More than ten people are missing in Keiyo South district after yesterday’s landslides that claimed more than ten lives. Keiyo South DC Arthur Bunde says 500 people have so far been relocated from Kerio Valley and are currently camping at several primary schools in the area. He says the search and rescue mission is ongoing.

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Kenyan police murder four squatters during eviction

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

Four people have been killed and ten others seriously injured when police opened fire on squatters protesting about being evicted from the 1200 acre Twiga Estate farm in Kenya, which they have lived on since 1952. 152 families (4,000 people) have been living on the farm since 1952, but claim they have owned the land since 1965 when itwas given to them by a white settler. They built homes and schools, and farmed the land for over 60 years.

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Flood Disaster Overwhelmed Our Capacity, says NEMA in Nigeria

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Thursday said the country’s resources and response capacity were seriously over-stretched by the magnitude of the recent massive flooding that ravaged 19 states of the federation. The agency likened the magnitude of the Bayalsa flood as almost close to what occurred in Haiti where earthquake nearly made the entire country impassable.

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10,000 Displaced Persons May Get Agricultural Land in Kenya

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

The Cabinet will decide how to resettle more than 10,000 IDP families and other evictees before the elections. With only two months to the polls, Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia has said the government will make a decision on how to get land for their resettlement. The government is considering to use part of its land owned by ministries and parastatals to resettle the families which include those evicted from Mau and Embobut forests.

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Shitanda launches slum upgrading programme in Nairobi

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In In the media

Housing Minister Soita Shitanda has asked slum dwellers to be ready for the upcoming slum upgrading programme in Nairobi. Speaking in Kibera Soweto Slums yesterday during the groundbreaking ceremony of Seefar Apartments located within Highrise Estate in the area, the minister noted that it will take collective responsibility to see Kenya’s Vision 2030 dream of having cheap and decent affordable housing for all achieved.

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Kenya’s decision to confine refugees and asylum-seekers in camps is unlawful

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In Social movement news

Kenya’s decision to place refugees and asylum seekers in camps away from urban centres is a discriminatory and unlawful restriction on freedom of movement, Amnesty International said. The government stated the policy is a reaction to security concerns in the country.
“This restriction on freedom of movement is likely to lead to other serious human rights abuses in already overcrowded, insecure refugee camps,” said Kathryn Achilles, Amnesty International’s East Africa expert.

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Curbing Tanzania’s “Land Grabbing Race”

Published in Thursday December 20th, 2012 In In the media

From January 2013, Tanzania will start restricting the size of land that single large-scale foreign and local investors can “lease” for agricultural use. The decision follows both local and international criticism that major investors are grabbing large chunks of land here, often displacing small-scale farmers and local communities.
The Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Peniel Lyimo confirmed that the government would limit the amount of land leased to investors in this East African nation. Previously, there were no limits.

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Slow delivery of title deeds to housing subsidy beneficiaries is cause for Concern

Published in Thursday December 20th, 2012 In In the media

Just over one million housing subsidy beneficiaries in South Africa have not received the title deeds to their properties, and the situation is worsening. As a result, poor households cannot fully benefit from the ownership of a property and use it properly as an asset and to improve their financial circumstances. A recent study by Urban LandMark reveals that the registration of title to subsidy properties in favour of beneficiaries is not happening in approximately one third of cases. The study estimates that just over one third (35%) of all houses delivered through the housing subsidy scheme have not been provided with a title deed.

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