By Chris Koroba
More than 1,500 in informal settlements in Kisii County will soon get lease certificates.
Kisii County Government in partnership with the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project (KISIP) Phase 2 will issue the certificates.
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The beneficiaries, drawn from Marani, Keumbu and Daraja Mbili informal settlements, will have a lease of 99 years in the World Bank funded project.
According to the County Executive Committee (CEC) member in charge of Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development Grace Nyarango, the project that is expected to be completed in June this year.
Beneficiaries will secure tenure that will help reduce land disputes in the county and enable them to develop their premises.
“Beneficiaries who have occupied the parcels of land from early 1960s will finally have exclusive ownership of their land, which they will develop without interference from any quarter,” said Nyarango.
She said the process started late last year after Governor Simba Arati signed participation documents with the Permanent Secretary (PS) in charge of Housing.
Speaking during a stakeholder engagement exercise in Marani, the County Director for Housing and Evaluation Services Joel Ombati observed that the county, working with a consultant has conducted a social-economic survey of the three settlements and come up with draft base maps and plans.
“The affected individuals have gone through the draft plan and some have proposed minor amendments that will be incorporated in the final plan.
They have been operating using rent cards and we are happy with the progress,” said Ombati.
Ombati who is the coordinator for the county for the three settlements that were approved for tenure regularization said the project will require approval from the technical staff, the cabinet and the County Assembly for the plan to become a long-term document that will be used for managing urban settlements.
“Tenure regularization processes include planning, survey and issuance of lease certificates for those who have been temporarily occupying land belonging to the county government, and who Governor Arati will give secure tenure in order to improve their livelihoods,” noted Ombati.
Ombati said there will be massive infrastructural improvement including drainage, street lighting, roads and sewerage among other amenities crucial in such settlements.
The county and the consultant are engaging the beneficiaries and other stakeholders including the National Lands Commission (NLC), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs), the County Assembly and other technical staff.
Prof. Calleb Mireri, a Principal consultant and team lead from LER Consultant Limited indicated that the overall objective of KISIP is to improve access to basic services and tenure security of residents in participating urban informal settlements and strengthen institutional capacity for slum upgrading in Kenya.
He said the main task is to ensure that those living in the public informal settlements have a right of land ownership.
“Once the Kisii County Government convers to them the right to own the land, they will have an opportunity to make long term investments and improve their wellbeing and deal with issues of land succession and land grabbing,” he stated.
He added that the county government will then work towards improving infrastructure and service delivery.
Prof. Mireri regretted that the residents have suffered in the past through loss of parts of their land.
Some incur outright loss of their land hence the project will be a relief to many affected families.
A socio-economic survey report in Daraja Mbili informal settlement reveals that 95 percent of respondents have access to sanitation bathrooms, suggesting that most households have some form of sanitary infrastructure in place.
Only five percent of respondents lack access, an indication that while access to sanitation facilities is generally good, there remains a small proportion of the population without proper facilities.
“This high level of access to bathrooms reflects a relatively positive sanitation condition compared to other informal settlements, though the remaining percentage represents a vulnerable group in need of attention,” said Prof. Mireri.
In Marani, the report points out that 86 percent of the respondents shared a bathroom within a plot, 11 percent stated that they had a bathroom inside their housing structure while three percent of the residents indicated that they shared a bathroom outside the structures.
