Soweto

The Kayole Soweto slum traces its origin to 1976, when President Jomo Kenyatta ordered to relocate the people from Embakasi (where current military barracks stand near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport). The Nairobi City Council and military surveyors planned the settlement with social spaces like a market, a school, and a hospital before the dwellers were brought in between 1978-79. In 1981, people from Kwa Gitau moved to Soweto after an in­fluential politician grabbed their land. There are over 8,000 house structures with an average of two rooms of ten by ten feet. Common building materials are timber and iron sheets with cement floor. There are few stone houses, mainly occupied by the structure-owners. Earning up to US$3 per day, most residents engage in casual unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, or self-employment in small-scale enterprises. A few are in formal employment, and unemployment and crime are major concerns in the area.