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| Agnes Wanjiku Maina |
Agnes Wanjiku Maina is a blind woman who lost everything during the recent demolitions in Mathare Slums. Mathare Woman Loses KSh 10k Flood Money, House She’s Lived in for 29 Years to Demolitions She had gone to a church nearby for food when a bulldozer tore down several houses earmarked for demolition. The development took away the house the elderly woman had called home for the last 29 years, forcing her to start life afresh. To compound her woes, Wanjiku also lost the KSh 10,000 she had been given by the government as her flood relief fund. “The money was in the house when it was demolished, so I was unable to recover it,” she lamented. Wanjiku’s story has been dotted with back-to-back seasons since she was a young girl growing up in the slums. She relocated to Rift Valley, hoping to find a new bearing, but the peace she sought was shattered when she was caught up in the 2007 post-election violence. Wanjiku spent several months at Kenyatta National Hospital, where she was declared blind and forced to return to Mathare without her eyesight. Life has not been kind to her, a problem made worse by the massive floods followed by demolitions. “I am now confused on where to go next because I’ve tried seeking help from different government offices in vain,” she cried. The recent floods in Kenya left at least 270 people dead, over 200,000 displaced, and destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure worth billions of shillings. As affected communities were still grappling with the resultant displacement, loss and shock occasioned by the floods, bulldozers descended on their houses. The government-sanctioned demolitions targeted hundreds of housing structures built on riparian reserves. Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, human rights defender David Karani noted that social workers were overwhelmed by the growing number of people who need support. “The most affected and those who really need support are persons with disabilities, because most lack the capacity to rebuild their lives without assistance,” he said.