Kenya begins to dismantle Kibera slums

i grew up in kenya n i can say i have a good idea of how things work there. i luv the idea of moving people out of the slums, the thing that i see happening in the future is that these government houses will be neglected and poverty and crime will reign there. it happens is so many countries with government housing, even in america.

I was in Kibera this past summer and it was terrible, my heart broke for those people. I would love to see it gone but I fear for the people who live there. Apartments are being built so quickly that construction is not done properly and people are actually being killed when poorly made buildings collapse on top of them. The government there is looking for a quick fix to this huge problem and in a situation like this that is just not possible. They are possibly hurting more people then helping. I do commend them for stepping up and doing something. For too long that place has been in ruin with sick, poor, uneducated and dying people but without some means of education kids will still join gangs to put money in their pocket and women will still prostitute to put food in their kids bellies. Simply building new apartments and tearing down shacks will not erase the problems so deeply rooted there it will take years to fix.

it is a good thing, any improvement on these stinking living conditions has to be welcomed. The problem I see will be when the new buildings are being allocated,
Kenya is rotten to the core, the local government in Nairobi and the national government like bribes too much, the whole country is based on it, it is run along tribal lines, votes for parties depend on tribe, the Prime Minister and the President are from different tribes, fight all the time and can agree on nothing.
These new houses will be allocated by how much money you have to give and by what tribe you belong to.
Kibera is the biggest slum in Kenya, but there are many, many more.
This project may also fail when it runs out of money to pay the builders because all the money has been stolen and it will be stolen.
Obama is in a position to do something here, but he is related to the Prime Minister Raila Odinga who is shortly to appear at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for his part in the 2008 Genocide, so chances of him lending support is very small. Recently he has given Kenya a bit of a wide berth.
Poor Kenya, pole sana

I am sadden by this story, however I feel that rebuilding the Kibera slums is definitely a good thing !!!

I THINK MAKING MAKING A SLUM INTO A LIVING CONDITION IMPROVES PEOPLES LIFES AND GET THEM EDUCATED AND THEY WILL BE ON THERE WAY TO HAVING A BEUTIFUL CITY

THEY JUS NEED HELP REACH OUT DA HAND N HELP DA LESS FORTUNATE

But with this initiative, will they also provide some kind of social assistance to these people? If they're not being hired or being laid off by employers because of HIV/AIDS, then isn't the problem still going to be there? Will people needing treatment be provided with that? I think otherwise, these new apartments for these people of Kibera, will simply turn into slums eventually.

I lived in Nairobi when I was a child and the concern for the government being able to follow through till the project ends would be a huge concern, in my opinion. Watching that video posted by afitzgerald and it brought back so many terrible memories of Kenya. When I lived there in the early 90s, there were 3 coo attempts. You'd be killed for a watch or shoes. It is such a corrupt place and I can't ever see it changing.

I think this is a good step for Kenya. The problem will be can the gov't in power effectively and peacefully stay in power and efficiently make this transititon.

Part of modernizing a country is to eradicate poverty and to raise the living standards of its citizens. If nothing was done to tear down those slums they would have been there forever...