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Mombasa

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A. Executive Summary 70

B. Mombasa: An Urban Prole 71

C. Overview o Organizations and Urbis

Activities in Mombasa 84

D. Proposed Capacity Building Strategy 92

E. Potential Challenges and Opportunities

o Implementing Urbis in Mombasa 96

F. Conclusion 97

A Rapid Urban Diagnostic and Proposed Inter-vention Strategy or DIG in Mombasa, Kenya

By Mark Hildebrand & Brian Holst

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he city o Mombasa has enormous unrealized potential with one othe best deepwater harbors in eastern Arica and a central location ona beautiul coastal strip. Despite these attributes, and notwithstanding

a healthy tourism industry, Mombasas economy has stagnated to the extentthat decaying inrastructure and widespread poverty characterize the city today.Over one-third o the citys population lives below the poverty line and virtu-ally all o the urban poor live in unplanned settlements spread across the city.In order to help cities such as Mombasa, and given a national economy that

had been improving until the recent post-election strie, the government oKenya has taken steps to ensure more equitable distribution o the benets oeconomic growth. Tis includes, notably, unding or local development thatcurrently represents USD 6 million per annum or Mombasa, with urtherincreases anticipated over the coming years. While local authorities and civilsociety organizations have limited capacity to prioritize needs and to stewardthese unds eectively in avor o the urban poor, the Urbis diagnostic showedthat a critical mass o Mombasas NGOs and CBOs currently harbor a collec-tive resolve to strengthen the engagement o local communities in this process.

Tese circumstances, we believe, provide a promising opportunity or invest-ing in the capacity o Mombasas civil society organizations and or potentiallyincreasing the inuence o the urban poor in decisions over the use o theallocated unds.

******

As Kenyas second largest city, Mombasa suered greatly during the nationseconomic downturn o the 1990s. Te site o some o the most violent politi-

cally instigated clashes during the countrys 1997 elections, the city has beenslow to capture the benets o the nations economic recovery, which began in2002. As the economy rebounded over the last several years, the government oKenya instituted a decentralization policy that attempted to include the partici-pation o the urban poor in decisions at the local level. A principal objective othis new policy has been to enhance transparency and accountability or publicservice delivery, ensuring that unds ow to the local level and are programmedwith the active participation o local communities.

A. Executive Summary

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As these devolved unding mechanisms are relatively new and since communi-ties are not always well organized, the level o community involvement hasallen short o expectations. Consequently, there is much room and a broadlyshared interest to strengthen the capacity o concerned NGOs and o the poorurban communities engaged in these eorts.

B. Mombasa: An Urban Profle

1. bAsIC COUnTrY demOgrAPhICs AndmACrOeCOnOmIC PrOfILe

Kenya is located in eastern Arica and is bordered by the Indian Ocean andSomalia on the east, anzania on the south-west, Uganda on the west, andEthiopia on the north. Te country has a population o 36.9 million peopleand is growing at an annual rate o 2.8%.1 In 1999, about a third o the popu-lation was urban. Te urban population is projected to rise to 50% by 2015.2During the 19891999 inter-censual period, the countrys urban populationmore than doubled, increasing rom 3.88 million to 9.90 million. Populationprojections suggest that Nairobi, the capital city, was home to nearly three mil-

lion people in 2006, and that Mombasa, the second largest city, housed a littleover 800,000 people. Mombasa has been a maritime trading center since the11th century and over time has attracted a diverse stream o migrants. It wasKenyas rst capital city, later losing that status to Nairobi. It is the principalport or Kenya and several other countries in the hinterland.

With a per capita income o USD 460 (USD 1,050 in terms o purchasingpower parity)3, Kenya is classied by the World Bank as a low-income coun-try.4 In 2004, its gross national income was USD 15 billion.5 Macroeconomic

indicators show that the economy perormed well in the early decades aterindependence in 1963, with an average growth rate o 6.8% per year in the1960s and 6.0% in the 1970s. Economic growth slowed substantially duringthe next two decades, turning negative in 2000. Te average annual growthrate over the period 19972002 was a low 1.5%.6

1 CIA World Fact Book. Retrieved 1/28/08 rom https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-actbook/

print/ke.html.2 UN-HABIA. (2007). History of Urbanization and Proliferation of Slums in Kenya. wenty-rst Session o the

Governing Council.3 World Bank. (2005). World Development Report 2006.4 Retrieved 1/28/08 rom http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=101.5 World Bank. (2005). World Development Report 2006.6 "Background Note: Kenya." US Department o State. 2008.

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vironment. Each o these departments (except or the town clerks department)has a corresponding committee chaired by a councilor.9

Te legislation governing local authority unction is the Local Government Act(LGA).10 Te Act and its subsequent amendments provide or administrativeand legal powers, unctions and responsibilities o local authorities. It also pro-vides or sources o revenue to nance the councils unctions. Local authoritiescollect revenue rom internal sources consisting o a variety o taxes, ees andcharges. Tey urther receive resources rom the central government throughthe Local Authorities ranser Fund (LAF), which has been operational sincethe 1999/2000 scal year. Te services provided by local authorities includethe maintenance o access roads, the establishment and maintenance o publicmarkets and bus parks, as well as the maintenance o housing and social welareprograms.11

3. UrbAn COndITIOns And PrevAILIng UrbAn dYnAmICsIn mOmbAsA

A. DemographicsTe 1999 population census showed that Mombasa had a population o justover 665,000 people. Tis population grew to 745,000 in 2002 and 828,000in 2006. As in the other principal towns in Kenya, the natural increase othe existing population rather than rural-urban migration drives most o thisgrowth. Estimates rom the recent Kenya Household and Budget Survey12show that 37.6% o Mombasas households all below the poverty line13, hardlyan improvement over the 38.3% recorded in the Welare Monitoring Surveyo 1997. Tese poverty indicators contrast sharply with those or Nairobiwhere the proportion below the poverty line dropped rom 50.2% in 1997to 21.3%14 in 2006. Poverty appears more entrenched among women-headedhouseholds with 48.8% o this group below the poverty line. A recent partici-patory orum15 identied the ollowing as priority issues in Mombasa slums(and thus as potential Urbis priority ocus areas):

10 Cap 265 o the Laws o Kenya.11 Drat report or the World Bank UNHABIA Rapid Urban Study Prole Conducted in September 2007.12 National Bureau o Statistics (2007) and Kenya Integrated Household and Budget Survey (KIHBS).13

Te urban income poverty line in KIHBS was dened as KSh 2,913 per person per month, or about USD 44.14 Tis is a provisional gure rom the Kenya Integrated Household and Budget Survey and should be treated

with caution as results rom the survey are yet to be published.15 Stakeholder orum in September 2007 organized as part o the preparation o an urban prole or Mombasa

or the World Bank, as an input into their economic and sector work (ESW) on Kenya.

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Providing basic services such as health, water and sanitation;

Capacitating community groups;

Improving inrastructure such as roads to promote business activities;

Planning and the regularization o land tenure; and

Providing cost-eective housing options aordable by the poor.

B. Economic activities of the urban poorDisadvantaged by lower levels o education, training, and a lack o access to la-

bor markets, the poor in Mombasa tend to engage in casual or unskilled work16

in ormal enterprises, or in inormal activities such as retail trade, ood or ruitvending and domestic work. Specically, a participatory poverty assessment17revealed that youth activities are concentrated in tourism, recycling (scavengingor ood and items that can be resold) and drug peddling. Te urban poor alsowork on construction cites, as porters in markets and in urban agriculture.

Secondary data shows that women are disproportionately concentrated in theinormal sector (56% compared to 41% o men). Even so, men dominate

the more lucrative activities in the inormal sector, such as handicrats sales,manuacturing, renting out o rooms, and water vending. Women are engagedmainly in selling oodstus, brewing and selling illicit liquor.

Poor people who engage in the above activities ace many challenges. Specical-ly, the challenges include lack o access to credit, cumbersome and bureaucraticlicensing requirements, taxation in the orm o bribe payments, and a lack oappropriate business sites, premises and services.18

C. Where do the urban poor live?Virtually all o the urban poor, well over a third o Mombasas total population,live in more than 55 slums19 across the city.20 Te poor ace stark living condi-

16 Rakodi, Carole, et al. (April 2000). Poverty and Political Conict in Mombasa. Environment and

Urbanization, 12(1), 153170.17 Arican Medical Relie Fund (AMREF), Ofce o the Vice President and the Ministry o Planning and

National Development. (1997). Te Second Participatory Assessment StudyKenya (Vol 1). Mombasa.18

Rakodi, Carole, et al. (April 2000). Poverty and Political Conict in Mombasa. Environment andUrbanization, 12(1), 153170.19 Boyd, G. (2001). Guidelines or a Poverty Focused Service. Report prepared as part o PAMNUP.20 Whereas the poor are concentrated in slums, not everybody who lives there is poor. Indeed, close to hal o

Mombasas total population lives in inormal settlements.

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tions in these settlements. A recent survey21 showed that 73% o respondentsdraw their water rom water kiosks (and pay exorbitant prices in the process),58% use pit latrines, and 54% dump rubbish in open areas and drains.

Although there are diverse land ownership patterns in slum areas, tenure isoten insecure, thereby leaving residents with little incentive to invest in theirdwellings.

D. Planning and development in urban settingsKenya has traditionally been a centralized state although the need or decen-tralization has come to the ore in recent years. o understand the ofcialplanning and development practices or public and private sector developmentprojects in Mombasa, it is important to rst identiy the institutional channelsthrough which resources ow rom the center to the local level. Tere are atleast our dierent channels or ofcial planning and development, which tendto overlap and lack coordination.

Te central government system, consisting o sector line ministries undedby the national budget.

Te local government system, unded by local revenues and the LocalAuthorities ranser Fund (LAF).

Te constituency system, consisting o various unds, including the HIV/AIDS und, the Bursary Fund, the Road Fund, and the Constituency De-velopment Fund (CDF) created in 2003/2004.

Te private sector/NGO system, unded by partners channeling resourcesdirectly to local communities bypassing the government's planning andbudgeting systems.

Te Constituency Development Fund (CDF), established in 2003 throughthe CDF Act (2003), is the latest strand o the constituency system," and animportant channel or transerring government unds to the local level. CDFconsists o an equivalent o 2.5% o all ordinary government revenue, but par-liament recently passed a motion adjusting this allocation to 7.5%. Te undis divided among the 210 constituencies in the country, with 75% o the undallocated equally and 25% based on poverty levels. Mombasa has our suchconstituencies: Mvita, Changamwe, Likoni and Kisauni.

21 Citizens report Card on Urban Water, Sanitation and Solid waste Services in Kenya: Summary o Results

rom Mombasa. (2006).

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Te reasury directly disburses CDF unds to the residents o a constituencythrough the Constituency Development Committee (CDC), which is presidedover by the local member o parliament (MP). Both the CDC and the LAFunds are designed to be programmed with the active participation o localcommunities and to reect their priorities.

It is estimated that CDF constitutes almost 20% o total government transersto the district level and that CDF has overtaken the Local Authority ranserFund (LAF) in terms o the volume o unds, although LAF is the govern-ments principal channel or scal transers to local authorities.

4. regULATIOn And PrACTICes And TheIr reLevAnCeTO The POOr

A. PlanningSeveral laws relate to planning and urban management in Kenya. Tese includethe Physical Planning Act Cap 286, Local Government Act Cap 265, PublicHealth Act, the Building Code enacted in 1968 and the revised version com-monly reerred to as Code Ninety-Five. Te objective o a substantial part othis legislation is to improve access to housing and to ensure a healthy physicalenvironment.

Te land ownership system ound in Mombasa especially hampers planningand urban management eorts. Te majority o land in Mombasa districtis held under a reehold orm o ownership. Privately owned land is let totenants-at-will," many o whom have or generations rented the land uponwhich their temporary houses are built. Since the 1920s, this system has beenrecognized, acilitated and, in theory, regulated by the local authority througha system o village layouts. Tis system o ownership complicates planning e-orts since spatial planning, inrastructure development and provision o publicacilities are only possible with the consent o the landowners, many o whomare absentee landlords living elsewhere in the country and even overseas.22Moreover, the lack o a current physical development plan makes it difcult ormunicipal authorities to devise strategies or managing slum areas.23

22Supra at note 4.23 Te last plan or Mombasa was prepared in 1926 and has not been properly updated since. Eorts are under-

way to prepare a new physical plan.

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resOUrCe ALLOCATIOn TO dIsTrICTs, 2004/052005/06,KenYAn shILLIngs (Ks) mILLIOns

Poa fu 2004/05 2005/06Constituency Developent Fund (CDF) 5,600 7,246

Locl authority Trnsfer Fund (LaTF) 4,000 5,584

Keny Rods Bord (Constituencies & districts) 3,720 8,900

Ntionl aIDS Control Council 2,280 3,786

Constituency Bursry Fund 770 800

Counity Developent Trust Fund (CDTF) 228 583

Centrl Governent (Recurrent & Developent) 13,210 15,852

TOTAL 29,808 42,751

Source: 2004/05 and 05/06 Report of Task force on Harmonisation and Strengthening of theDistrict and Constituency Development, 2005.

LaTF lloctions to mobs were KSh 273.7 illion (USD 4.1 illion) in 2005/2006nd KSh 215.7 illion (USD 3.3 illion) yer erlier. CDF lloctions to mobscurrently exceed USD two illion yer, nd re expected to triple s devolution gth-ers pce. The following tble shows CDF lloctions for the lst three yers.

reCenT Cdf ALLOCATIOns TO mOmbAsAs fOUrCOnsTITUenCIes: Ks

Cotitucy 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008

Chngwe 27,826,211 38,675,681 38,914,543

Kisuni 28,826,211 39,933,413 40,160,083

Likoni 26,836,229 37,176,659 37,406,281

mvit 26,427,013 36,360,408 36,584,989

Source: 2004/05 and 05/06 Report of Task force on Harmonisation and Strengthening of theDistrict and Constituency Development, 2005.

Cobined, LaTF nd CDF lloctions to mobs currently ount to round USD6 illion nnully. If urbn poor counities were to engge fully in the progr-ing of these funds, s intended by governent policy, these investents could hvedrtic ipcts on urbn poverty reduction.

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B. Security of tenureTe land tenure arrangements prevalent in inormal settlements in Mombasainclude:

Unofcial allocation o government land to private individuals (usuallydone by the provincial administration or politicians);

emporary occupation o private land with permission rom the landowner;

Land originally occupied under customary tenure on which adjudicationand issue o title is completed or in progress;

Land temporarily allocated to specic groups o people, such as customaryowners displaced by government projects, and occupied by their descen-dants. emporary tenure is accompanied by restrictions on house improve-ment; and

enancy-at-will in privately owned areas, some with approved layouts (thisis the most prevalent orm o occupation in inormal settlements in Mom-basa). Many o the owners are absent and construction increasingly utilizespermanent materials, although prohibited by regulations.24

Recently, the government has drated a national land policy and has set asideunds to purchase land on which to settle squatters. Tese measures, i pursuedvigorously, might redress some o the more pressing land issues.

C. Regulations relating to carrying out of commercial activitiesTe MMC regulates the licensing o inormal trading activities. Under Section148 o the Local Government Act, the local authority is empowered to deter-mine the cost o any business licenses issued. raders are not consulted on the

ee structure and the imposition o ees is let largely to the discretion o thecouncil. Under Section 165 o the Act, the councils can also cancel or reuse togrant business licenses. Stakeholders are not involved in this process, and thediscretionary nature o this provision means that the council licensing proce-dure is devoid o any security guarantees.25

Te citys bylaws authorize street trading, although another bylaw, the generalnuisance law, allows the authorities to close down traders activities on the basis

24Supra at note 3.25 Moyi, E. and Njirani, P. (December 2005). Misallocation o Workspaces or MSE: Some Lessons and Models.

Kenya Institute o Public Policy Research Analysis (KIPPRA), Discussion Paper No 53.

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that they create a general nuisance in public spaces.26 Tus, even i tradershave paid the licensing ee (payable either daily or annually), reports indicatethat in practice the traders are still subject to harassment by council askaris inthe orm o orced relocations, conscation o property (which is invariably notrecovered by the traders) and imposition o nes. Some traders also claim to besubject to extortion by the council askaris in the orm o payment o bribes toallow them to continue to trade.

D. Allocation of trading spacesTe responsibility or providing land and workspaces rests with the localauthority. Tis role has, however, been weakened by a lack o clear policies anda weak institutional ramework. Further, the continued perception o inor-mal economic activities as temporary in nature has meant that the poor havebeen excluded rom urban planning policymaking. As a result, most inormaleconomic activities take place in the absence o a supportive physical inra-structure, including land, workspaces and sanitary acilities. Consequently,most inormal trading takes place on illegal sites such as pavements and onroad reserves.

E. Rule of law and transparencyParliament has passed several pieces o legislation seeking to enhance transpar-ency and accountability o public service delivery. Te rst o these, the LAFAct27, requires the participation o stakeholders in reviewing perormanceand setting service delivery priorities as a prerequisite or the council to ac-cess LAF unds. Tis has encouraged greater stakeholder participation andhas provided an important opportunity or citizens to inuence local servicedelivery. It also potentially increases the level o accountability o councilors orperormance while in ofce. Furthermore, it can result in improved scal man-agement at the council, including the production o audited accounts. Te pro-cess, however, suers rom low implementation rates and limited stakeholdercapacity, which has meant that stakeholders are oten not adequately equippedto eectively participate in the process and hold the council to account.

Second, the Procurement Act28 has resulted in greater transparency by requir-ing that councils advertise large tenders or procuring goods and services inthe national daily newspapers. Reports suggest, however, that despite improve-ments, the process is still prone to abuse and procurement remains one o the

26

Kamunyori, Sheila Wanjiru. (2007). A Growing Space or Dialogue: Te Case o Street Vending in NairobisCentral Business District, unpublished masters thesis, Massachusetts Institute o echnology, Massachusetts,

Department o Urban Studies and Planning.27 Local Authority ranser Fund Act No. 8 o 1998.28 Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005.

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areas cited as being the most vulnerable to a lack o transparency.

As stated previously, the Local Government Act29 is the law that governsthe unctions o local authorities. Primary among the complaints is that theAct coners on the minister or local government (MLG) substantial powersregarding the control o various unctions o local authorities and their generaloperations, including sta recruitment, deployment, promotion and dismissal,and nancial management matters such as capital development plans, budget,procurement and stafng plans approval. Te eect o this is that the centralgovernment executive is granted considerable powers to inuence the day-to-day decisions o the local authorities, sometimes at the expense o localresidents. Te result is that the scope o local participation in setting prioritiesregarding planning, budgeting and expenditure monitoring is reduced, therebydiscouraging citizens rom playing a signicant role in local governance, devel-opment and service provision.30

F. Role and inuence of the poor in ofcial civic planningTe Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP) is the mainvehicle or public participation in urban planning. Te LASDAP process wasdesigned to promote community involvement in the planning, budgeting,implementation and evaluation o local development and service deliveryprograms and was conceived to promote local ownership and to enhance thesustainability o projects unded through LAF.

Investigations in both Mombasa and other towns, however, show that LAS-DAP has been politicized, and the projects generated do not necessarily rep-resent community priorities. An important concern is the disconnect betweennational-level programming and planning practices at council and communitylevels. Tere is also limited continuity in the monitoring o council compliancewith community interests and priorities. Although a LASDAP monitoringcommittee exists, it requires training to become more eective. A number oNGOs and CBOs are involved in monitoring council perormance, especiallythrough the LASDAP monitoring committee.

G. Capacity building and assistance to the poorTe MMC has embarked on the ollowing projects intended to address povertyand vulnerability among Mombasa residents:

29 Cap 265 o the Laws o Kenya.30Supra at note 3.

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Organization o street amilies and commercial sex workers and acilitationin the ormation o CBOs to address the ormers concerns;

Formation o committees o peer educators that support community groupson capacity building;

Rehabilitation o the old Mwembe ayari market that burned down in2002 in order to accommodate hawkers and street traders.

Te MMC has also partnered with donors on the ollowing projects:

Settlement upgrading in Ziwa la Ngombe in partnership with UN-Habitat,Ministry o Housing, and Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme;

LASDAP projects on water supply (Kaloleni and Mwembe ayari), educa-tion (classrooms at Utange, Mtopanga, and Bangladesh), market (Majengo)and drainage (Magongo Wayani);

Collaboration with the Ministry o Local Government and the EuropeanUnion to establish work sites and trade zones or hawkers and other small

businesses; and

Collaboration with the Mombasa and Coast ourist Association to allowbeach operators to sell their merchandise in designated lanes. Tis repre-sents an eort to end the long-standing conicts between beach operatorsand hotel owners over the latters encroachment on private hotel propertyto selling their wares.31

5. PrIvATe seCTOr InvOLvemenT In ALLevIATIng POverTY

By generating employment, the private sector contributes substantially topoverty reduction. Te private services and manuacturing sectors play a criti-cal role in employment generation. Te services sector consists o: (a) commu-nity, social and personal services, (b) wholesale and retail trade, restaurants andhotels and (c) nancial services.

In the nancial sector, recent investigations indicate that micronance institu-

31 Morris, Aron. (5 November 2007).Beach Operators and Hoteliers Agree on Access Roads.Business Daily

Newspaper, 1.

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tions (MFIs) have generally relaxed lending conditions, widely accepting proxycollateral such as chattels, shares, stocks, guarantors and purchase reerences.Tese institutions have gone out o their way to be more responsive to their cli-ent needs, and to amiliarize low-income customers with banking and businesspractices. For example, K-REP Bank, one o the key micronance institutionsin Mombasa (and in the country), extends credit to both men and womenwithout reerence to the status o the household head. About 70% o themembers o groups that have borrowed are women. By supporting the inormalsector, MFIs continue to make an important contribution to poverty reductionin Mombasa.

6. mAIn UrbAn ChALLenges

A. GovernanceLike other Kenyan cities, Mombasa aces signicant governance challenges.Foremost in this regard is the inability so ar by elected leaders in the municipalcouncil to develop an eective vision and strategy or dealing with urban pov-erty, stakeholder engagement, and consolidating accountability and transpar-ency to improve service delivery. Moreover, city governance is complicated byragmented and overlapping responsibilities among service providers like themunicipal council, the water utility, sector ministries, and the devolved undsthat all outside the municipal councils remit, such as the CDF and the RoadFund.

B. Local economic developmentTe city seems to lack a coherent ramework or promoting local economicdevelopment (LED), resulting in its inability to take advantage o its strategiclocation in eastern Arica. LED has no local champion in Mombasa, and his-torically both the municipal council and the chamber o commerce have had alimited capacity to promote the local economy. Although the municipal coun-cil has recently prepared a strategic plan that addresses the Mombasa economy,to be driven primarily by the tourism sector, the government lacks the capacityto implement this plan.

C. Infrastructure and shelterMombasa aces major inrastructure decits. Citywide inrastructure challengesnotably include the ollowing:

Less than 33% o daily demand or water is met; 32

Only 15% o the population is served by the sewer system; and

32 Source: National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation, Mombasa.

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Only 30% o the 600700 tons o solid waste generated per day is collected.

In poor urban neighborhoods, the inrastructure issues include:

73% o the poor buy their water rom kiosks, paying exorbitant prices;

58% use pit latrines;

54% dump rubbish in open areas and drains; and

With limited political will to secure the property rights o the poor, housingconditions remain unimproved and precarious.

7. CAPACITY bUILdIng

Te city also aces serious capacity constraints, especially within the municipalcouncil and civil society organizations. Te municipal council has been unableto develop a coherent strategy or promoting local economic development andreducing poverty. Despite the governments aim to tie levels o unding withstakeholder participation more eectively, citizens groups are not adequatelyempowered to participate in these processes and thereby contribute to the

development o community-based poverty reduction strategies. NGOs andCBOs in the city, although actively working with communities, do not haveadequate capacity and nd it difcult to address all but the most pressing com-

emPLOYmenT In mOmbAsA bY IndUsTrY (nO.)

Iuty 2004 2005

agriculture nd forestry 909 905

mining nd qurrying 1,319 1,324

mnufcturing 33,492 33,891

Electricity nd wter 1,808 1,815

Construction 6,862 6,666

Wholesle & Retil trde, Resturnts & Hotels 24,265 24,897

Trnsport nd Couniction 32,648 34,118

Finnce, Insurnce, Rel estte nd Business services 13,304 14,582Counity, Socil nd Personl Services 52,887 53,549

Source: Statistical abstract 2006

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munity needs, particularly in the poorest communities where social capital isthe weakest. At the same time, despite a high level o commitment, their abilityto engage with the municipal council has, or the most part, been sporadic anduncoordinated.

C. Overview o Organizations and UrbisActivities in Mombasa

he Urbis team met with eleven key NGOs and CBOs working directlywith Mombasas urban poor and disadvantaged. Eight o these are local

Mombasa-based organizations, most o which operate as CBOs; twoare national NGOs; and one is an international NGO. In Kenya, NGOs arenormally dened as organizations whose reach extends beyond their immedi-ate community area and which must be registered nationally with the NGOcouncil. Te membership and operations o CBOs are largely limited to a par-ticular community and must be registered locally with the Department o SocialServices (under the Ministry o Sports, Gender, Culture and Social Services).

1. OrgAnIzATIOns wOrKIng wITh The UrbAn POOr

For the purposes o the Urbis program, the assessment team identied the ol-lowing six organizations as urban innovators:

Coast Development Lobby Group (CDLG): A democracy and gover-nance advocacy CBO.

Ujamma Center: A Mombasa-based advocacy NGO working with CoastProvince CBOs.

Likoni Development Group (Likodep): A lobbying and advocacy CBOworking in Likoni.

Ilishe Trust: An umbrella organization o Coast Province CBOs workingon civic awareness to strengthen governance and reduce poverty.

Kisauni Land Lobby Group: A lobby group CBO ocused on land tenurein Kisauni.

Kituo Cha Sheria: A legal aid and community advocacy national NGOworking countrywide to promote justice and equity.

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Further, the assessment team also determined that the ollowing organizationshave specialized skills and knowledge that could be available as a resource to theUrbis program.

ActionAid International Kenya (AAIK): An international NGO that hasbeen working in Kenya or over 35 years, AAIK ocuses on building the capac-ity o local NGOs and CBOs to engage civil society in policy advocacy andgrassroots action. AAIK approaches poverty as an injustice, endeavoring toeradicate poverty by identiying its root causes and then ocusing on empower-ing the poor and their organizations to inuence policies, laws and institutionsin their avor; to claim their rights rom the state; and to nd solutions to theirown problems. AAIKs program in the Coast Province has been run out o itsMombasa ofce or the last eight years (its policy is to remain in one locationor no more than ten years). Te organizations ocus in Mombasa has been onbuilding the capacity o local NGOs and CBOs, including eorts to strengthencommunity participation in the programming and accountability mechanismsor devolved unds such as LAF, CDF and the HIV/AIDS und. Since AAIKhelped to incubate CDLG, Likodep, and the now deunct Coast NGO Forumand is currently providing capacity building support to a number o other localorganizations, the Mombasa Urbis program will greatly benet rom drawingon the lessons learned rom its experience.

Association or the Physically Disabled in Kenya (APDK):APDK is a na-tional NGO registered in 1958 with branches throughout the country. Te or-ganizations mission is to work with disabled persons to empower them sociallyand economically to become ully integrated members o their communities.Elected committee members govern the organization. Te Mombasa brancho APDK has two core programs, the medical rehabilitation program and theeconomic rehabilitation program. Te medical rehabilitation program involvesoutreach rehabilitation through mobile clinics, training and production osupportive devices such as wheelchairs sold at subsidized prices. Te economicrehabilitation program consists o two segments: two community workshops lo-cated in the Bombolulu and Likoni areas, and a micronance program that hasbeen disbursing loans since 1999. Combined, the two workshops employ over300 disabled persons and are revenue-producing. Te micronance program hasover 200 clients currently servicing loans. Te organization also receives donorunding rom ActionAid Kenya and the ridland Foundation, among others.

Husiko La Pwani: Husiko La Pwani is a network o support groups oundedin 2004 or people living with HIV/AIDS in the Coast Province. Te groupsactivities include the establishment o a voluntary counseling and testing clinicon its premises, the ormation o support groups throughout the Coast Region,

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the carrying out o HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns and the establishment oa resource center. Te network also carries out income generating programsamong its members. Te network is comprised o over 26 groups in Mombasadistrict (representing each o the 26 wards in the district). Its principal und-ing comes rom ActionAid, but it has also received support rom the NationalAIDS Council in the orm o training and provision o educational materials.

Te Urbis team also considered the St. Veronica Cooperative andYouthAgenda or Peace and Developmentduring the assessment. Te team,however, determined that these organizations objectives and activities, whileworthwhile, ell outside o the scope o the Urbis program.

2. UrbAn InnOvATOrs

Based on an upcoming program design and planning mission, the MombasaUrbis program will consider the ollowing CBOs and NGOs as potential part-ners in a citywide capacity building strategy.

A. Coast Development Lobby Group (CDLG)Te Coast Development Lobby Group (CDLG) is a democracy and gover-nance advocacy organization that promotes improved governance throughincreased citizen participation or more transparent and accountable systems.Registered in 2003 as a CBO, it is currently ormalizing its registration as anNGO. CDLGs substantive area o ocus is advocacy or transparency andaccountability in the management o devolved unds, particularly the LocalAuthority ranser Fund (LAF). Te organization also serves a watchdogunction in assessing, monitoring, and evaluating LAF-unded developmentprojects derived rom community priorities and implemented in accordancewith the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP). CDLGalso provides capacity building or community groups and creates networks inorder to integrate community participation in development activities. CDLGscurrent activities and roles include:

Implementation o a program on strengthening community accountabilitysupport structures to participate eectively in the management o LAF-unded projects through the LASDAP process, unded under USAIDsKenya Civil Society Strengthening program.

Consortium member and advocacy partner with Ilishe rust, Ujamaa Cen-

ter and others in implementation o the Citizens Report Card on Waterand Sanitation in Mombasa, unded by the World Bank.

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Coalition member with other CBOs and NGOs in Mombasa on the 90Days Campaign to demand the release o the report o the ask Force onLandless and Squatters compiled by the government in December 2005,but still not released; unded by Kituo Cha Sheria.

CDLG is a membership organization that draws members rom all 26 wardsin the Mombasa district. Te communities it works with include squatters,street amilies, the disabled, street traders and people living with HIV/AIDS.CDLGs governance structure includes a general assembly, an executive com-mittee and a board o directors. Fity-six ward representatives (two rom eachward) and 13 elected executive committee members comprise the generalassembly. It normally meets monthly and it elects the new ofcials annually,

including the executive committee and board o directors. CDLG has a secre-tariat o two ull-time employees.

CDLG relies entirely on donor unding. Its current activities are undedthrough the USAID Kenya Civil Society Strengthening Program grant orstrengthening community structures to monitor LAF in Mombasa district(KSh 2.6 million) and, recently, it has beneted rom support rom ActionAidand the Kenya Human Rights Commission, among others.

Despite CDLGs strategic ocus and commendable record working in partner-ship with other CBOs and NGOs in Mombasa to engage local communitiesin programming LAF unds and holding local government accountable todeliver results, the organization is currently acing a number o challenges. TeCDLG Organizational Capacity Assessment Report (May 2007), which wascarried out by Pact Kenya and nanced by USAID, elaborates these challengesin some detail. Tis report also clearly identies CDLGs capacity buildingrequirements and prospects or sustainability.

B. Ujamma CenterRegistered as an NGO in 2001, the Ujamaa Center works with community-based organizations in the Coast Province to enhance their capacity to eec-tively engage in socioeconomic and social justice processes and improve accessto quality and reliable services provision. Te Centers primary areas o ocusare community development, social justice advocacy, and research and docu-mentation. Its social justice program ocuses on community control over locallivelihood resources, including the rights o squatters. It also ocuses on theissues o devolved unds and their utilization as well as community participa-

tion in the preparation, implementation and supervision o poverty reductionprojects. Te Center does this through capacity building programs (village-based workshops, ward-level reection meetings, etc.), inormation sharing

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and dissemination, and policy advocacy. It also publishes a quarterly newslet-ter Kimulimuli. Te Center works with community-based organizations andresidents in all our constituencies o Mombasa (Likoni, Changamwe, Kisauniand Mvita). It also operates in the districts o Kwale, Kili and Malindi, whereone o its more successul initiatives was providing support in helping to es-tablish the Malindi Residents Forum, which brings together local communitydelegates rom each ward in weekly meetings with the Malindi own Council.

Te Ujamaa Center is governed by a board o directors that articulates policyprinciples and sets direction and institutional and program ocus. Five staand 32 community mobilizers and volunteers compromise Ujamaa Center'ssecretariat. Te Center has a strategic plan that guides its implementationand budgeting processes. Grants rom the Royal Danish Embassy, the ravelFoundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Headley Foundation totaling KSh16,000,000 unded the 2007 budget.

Ujamaa works in partnership with various other NGOs and CBOs on thecoast and is a member o a number o NGO consortiums, including the ElimuYetu Coalition; the Mombasa Consortium on Water, Sanitation and SolidWaste; and the Kili Civil Society Network. Te Center also hosts the CoastSocial Forum, which meets annually at the Mombasa International rade Fairto provide local CBOs and community practitioners with an opportunity orinormation exchange and peer learning.

C. Likoni Development Group (Likodep)Likodep is a lobbying and advocacy organization working in Mombasas LikoniConstituency, which was the center o the politically instigated violent clashesthat took place in the run-up to the 1997 general elections. Likodep wasregistered as an NGO in September 2004 although in its operations and reach,it has more o the characteristics o a CBO than an NGO (since its operationsare conned to the Likoni area and its membership and sta are drawn exclu-sively rom this area). Likodeps mission is to reduce poverty and its causes inorder to achieve social and economic justice or the people o Likoni throughadvocacy or the better policies that uphold human rights and promotion obasic services.

Te organization has ve principal areas o ocus: education, health, micro-enterprise development, lobbying and advocacy, and peace and securitydevelopment. Trough these programs, Likodep has helped build pit latrines inschools, carried out an HIV/AIDS awareness program, established a voluntarycounseling and testing center (VC) and launched a micronance program orits members. Likodeps lobbying and advocacy eorts have centered around the

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use and management o devolved unds, with a particular ocus on the LAFand CDF (Constituency Development Fund). o this end, it participated inthe No ProjectNo views campaign to advocate or the municipal councilstimely completion o all projects prioritized by the community, and still pend-ing. It also conducts community civic education and human rights training. Itspeace and security campaign is o particular relevance to its community, whichhas yet to recover ully rom the 1997 violent clashes.

Likodep is a membership organization with an estimated 600 membersthroughout the Likoni area. A ten-member board o directors and a our-member secretariat composed o ull-time employees run the organization.Grants rom ActionAid, the Royal Danish Embassy and the Kenya CommunityDevelopment Foundation currently support Likodep. Its annual budget or2007 was KSh 10,694,000.

Likodep works in partnership with other NGOs in the district, includingCDLG, the Ujamaa Center, MUHURI and the Kenya Alliance or the Ad-vancement o Childrens Rights. It has also established links with various localschools and the local administration.

D. Ilishe TrustIlishe rust is an umbrella organization o Coast Province CBOs working oncivic awareness to strengthen governance and reduce poverty. Illishe stands orIlimu Sheria which is Swahili or legal awareness program. Initially regis-tered as a CBO, in November 1998, Ilishe registered as a trust. Its mission is tosupport long-term grassroots action with a clear emphasis on empowering thepoor to develop eective strategies or combating poverty and ensuring socialjustice and equity or all. Te rust implements programs in: savings and cred-it, early childhood development, education and training, shelter and housing,water and sanitation, land, and shelter. In recent years, the rust has increas-ingly ocused on land, shelter, and water and sanitation programs. One o therusts major achievements was serving as a lead agency in the Mombasa Waterand Sanitation City consortium that resulted in the drating o a Citizens'Report Card or Water and Sanitation in Mombasathe rst o its kind in thecountry. As part o its education and training programs, the rust is involved inthe Uraia program, which is a civic awareness program that airs on radio andtelevision broadcasts with an emphasis on human rights, governance, leadershipand constitutional issues. Te rust also addresses issues o governance concern-ing the two primary devolved government unds, CDF and LAF.

Ilishe has a corporate membership o over 80 CBOs and elects its governingbody members to serve or a three-year term. Tese members hold an annual

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general meeting. Te board o trustees is the policy-making organ o the rust,and an executive committee is the arm o the board whose mandate is to over-see the secretariat in supporting the implementation o the various programs.Tere are also zonal committees that implement the various programs withthe technical support o the secretariat. Te rust employs 15 permanent stamembers but has an employee base that uctuates depending on the nature othe programs being implemented.

Te rusts program planning is developed through a participatory process withits membership. Primary unding is rom donors and tied to specic projects.Tis includes its current unding support rom the World Bank Water Sanita-tion Program and the Basket Fund National Civic Education Program (NCEPII, which totaled KSh ve million or 20062007). In the recent past, otherdonors have included the University o Sussex, the Swedish Non-Govern-mental Organization Foundation or Human Rights, and the ConstitutionalReorm Education Consortium (CRECO). Te rust has also established part-nerships with a number o other NGOs and CBOs in Mombasa and maintainsa dialogue with the Mombasa city authorities and relevant line ministries suchas the Ministry o Lands.

E. Kisauni Land Lobby GroupKisauni Land Lobby Group was registered in 2001 as a CBO based in theKisauni area o Mombasa. Te Lobby Group serves as an umbrella body or128 other small CBOs in the Kisauni area. Te Lobby works to raise aware-ness on land tenure issues, particularly those concerned with squatters (all 18members are themselves squatters). Te Kisauni area is settled by amilies whohave been renting rom private absentee landlords, oten or many genera-tions. Tey have inormally built housing on the rented land. Indeed, much othe Kisauni area reects the tenancy-at-will arrangements described above inSection B (Mombasa: An Urban Prole). Te Lobby Group has also worked inraising awareness o community members in regards to the management o de-volved unds. In spite o its very limited resource capabilities, the organizationhas had some success in lobbying or squatters rights, including successullypetitioning the Ministry or Lands to issue a public notice or the cessation olevying o ground rents or squatters. Tis is seen as a rst step in securing theirland tenure. (However, this public notice was subsequently blocked prior tobeing enacted, apparently in response to pressure rom the landlords and theirlawyers).

Te Lobby has a six-member executive committee and 12 additional members,all o whom work on a voluntary basis. Te Lobby has not yet been the recipi-ent o any donor unding, although it has received some technical support

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rom PAMOJA rust, a Nairobi based NGO that is Shack/Slum DwellersInternational's (SDI) partner in Kenya.

F. Kituo Cha SheriaKituo Cha Sheria is a national NGO that provides legal awareness training andlegal representation to the poor, particularly in the areas o housing, land, laborand governance. It has been in operation or 35 years and is the oldest ree legaladvice centre in Kenya. Te organization has headquarters in Nairobi but it hasa well-established branch ofce in Mombasa, which serves the Coast Province.Kituo Cha Sheria is Swahili or Legal Advice Center. Te mission o KituoCha Sheria is to work with the people o Kenya to respect, promote, demandand access human rights in pursuit o a just and equitable society.

Te organization carries out this mission through two core programs: a legalaid program and a community advocacy, governance and community part-nership program. Te legal aid program provides ree legal advice and, whererequired, legal representation at highly subsidized rates (a one-time ee o KSh50) to members o the community. Te advocacy program involves workingwith communities to raise awareness o their legal rights, primarily in the areao land ownership and questions o security o tenure and management o de-volved unds. Unlike many o the other organizations proled, Kituo does notrestrict itsel to the two primary unds, CDF and LAF; its program covers theentire range o devolved unds (13 in total). o this end, the organization hasworked with local NGOs and CBOs to establish devolved und monitoringcommittees in Mombasas our constituencies, which serve as shadow com-mittees to the governments constituency development committees. Kituo alsoprepared a devolved unds monitoring kit and has sponsored a bill in parlia-ment seeking to amend the provisions o the CDF Act in order to reduce theability o members o parliament to bypass community stakeholders in settingpriorities or and monitoring the use o CDF unding.

Te organization has a seven-member board o governors and a twenty-ve-member secretariat. It also has a volunteer advocacy scheme consisting o 500practicing lawyers nationwide, with 50 volunteers in this Mombasa district.Te Mombasa branch ofce has seven ull-time sta, our o whom are lawyers.Te organization pursues its grassroots initiatives through local CBOs andNGOs, including CDLG, Ujamaa Center and Ilishe rust, among others.Kituo also uses its well-established research capacity to support building thecapacity o these local organizations and to strengthen their impacts on govern-ment policies. Te communities it works with include squatter communities,Export Processing Zone (EPZ) workers, tenants and commercial sex workers.

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Te organizations core unding or its Mombasa program comes rom twoprimary sources: the German NGO, Misereor International, and the Danishdevelopment agency, Danida. Other donor unding or specic projects comesrom UNHCR and CIDAs Marginal Justice Program.

D. Proposed Capacity Building Strategy

he Urbis capacity building strategy in Mombasa will respond to anumber o imperatives to scale up impacts on poverty reduction. Terst is the availability o devolved resources in a setting with a severely

limited capacity or community programming. As a result, Urbis has an oppor-tunity to link its capacity building strategy to strengthen community engage-ment by more eectively targeting readily available capital unding or urbanpoverty reduction. Te main devolved unds or Mombasa are the Constitu-ency Development Fund and the LAF, totaling about USD 6 million a yearand projected to expand. Tis strategy would also include targeting the severalsector-specic devolved unds, listed in Section C, including those that supportHIV/AIDS programs, roads and education.

Te second imperative is that there are a number o CBOs and NGOs operat-ing in Mombasa that, although well-established, are badly in need o capacitybuilding to make them more eective and to enable them to broaden theiroutreach to poor communities. Tese NGOs have demonstrated their abilityto work within their mandates and network with others. Urbis can also drawupon the experience o larger NGOs that have supported capacity building inthe CBO/NGO sector in Mombasa, such as ActionAid, as well as the techni-cal capacity o national NGOs, such as Kituo Cha Sheria, which is developinglegal toolkits to support community access to devolved unds.

Te third imperative is the weak and ragmented linkage between NGOs andthe Municipal Council o Mombasa. Enhancing the capacity o NGOs toengage with the municipality is critical to poverty alleviation, since the mu-nicipal council plays an important role in service delivery, urban planning andmanagement, and regulation.

Tere are essentially two principal capacity gaps that will need to be bridgedto address these objectives and thereby enable communities living in poverty

to improve their welare. Te rst is to build the capacity o NGOs so thatthey, in turn, can empower local communities to drive the programming ounds devolved by the central government to the city. Tese unds, especiallythe Constituency Development Fund and the Local Authority ranser Fund,

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lie at the core o governments devolution policy. Fiscal decentralization alone,unaccompanied by adequate programming capacity at the community level,cannot eectively respond to local priorities. Conversely, building capacity inthe absence o capital unds to address local priorities would not yield satisac-tory results. Although a number o Mombasas NGOs have beneted rom thesupport o development partners and bilateral agencies, most o this has beenproject-based unding and, since support directly targeting the capacity build-ing o these organizations is limited, much remains to be done. Moreover, theanticipated expansion o devolved unds in 2008, in line with current politicalaspirations, underlines the pressing and growing concern to empower commu-nities to utilize these resources to address local needs.

Te second capacity gap is the limited coordination o NGO interventionsin the city. Investigations have shown that this has not always been the case.In the late 1990s, a DFID-unded program, Participatory Approaches to meet-ing the Needs o the Urban Poor (PAMNUP), hosted the NGO orum, aninstitutional mechanism that enabled NGOs to: (a) coordinate their work andthus reduce overlaps and other inefciencies, and (b) increase their voice in or-der to engage more eectively with the Mombasa Municipal Council and otherstakeholders. Tis coordinating unction, although later taken over by Action-Aid or a limited period, has not been supported in recent years. Coordinationpresently ocuses on issue-based activities, with NGOs in the same line o workorming coalitions and networks to address common issues. While this arrange-ment appears to be working well, it leaves NGOs without a joint mechanismor engaging with the Mombasa City Council and other service providers.

Urbis could seek to use a phased approach to bridge the two gaps identiedabove (NGO Capacity and NGO Coordination), initially ocusing only on therst, but phasing in coordination activities as the project gains experience. Terst gap provides a easible entry point because o the ollowing conditions:

Tere are a number o NGOs, proled above in Section D, which oersubstantial potential or eective collaboration with Urbis. Due diligencewill indicate which o these NGOs provide the best prospects or meetingUrbis objectives.

For the purposes o programming, it might be easible to ocus initialcapacity building on one constituency, i necessary. Tis approach wouldcarry some risks but might provide a tractable option without losing the

opportunity to go to scale as Urbis learns relevant lessons.

Urbis could collaborate with some o the development organizations listed

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above to build on and expand ongoing capacity building eorts.

For two reasons, Urbis should phase in activities to address the second gap

only ater it has acquired eld experience and built up the competencies o thetarget NGOs:

Initially, Urbis may have limited capacity to support inter-NGO coordina-tion and to promote collective stakeholder engagement with the MombasaMunicipal Council. Increasingly, however, Urbis could channel supporttowards the creation o a stakeholder orum, preerably in partnership withother development partners. Te Malindi model supported by the UjamaaCenter oers a good example o how Urbis could accomplish this.33

Te risk o ailure in addressing the second gap is considerable. Drawingtogether a large number o diverse NGOs, desirable as this might be, is adifcult undertaking, and Kenyan experience shows that the creation ostakeholder orums in the larger towns and or structured engagement withmunicipal councils is a complex task.34

An intermediate step towards a stakeholder orum would be to establish avirtual resource center, which would act as a clearinghouse or inormation in

addition to documenting and disseminating the activities o the key stakehold-ers in poverty.

1. brIdgIng The CAPACITY bUILdIng gAP

Crating a detailed capacity building strategy to address the rst gap willrequire the participation o NGOs that: (a) pass the due diligence test and (b)agree to collaborate with Urbis.

Te ultimate aim is to empower local communities to utilize devolved undsand other local resources to address their priority needs, such as local inra-structure services (water, sanitation, drainage, electricity), social services (edu-cation, health), economic services (markets, worksites or microenterprises),security o tenure through regularization o property rights, access to legalservices, etc. o achieve this aim, Urbis will build the capacity o qualiying

33 Malindi, a small coastal town about 60 miles to the north o Mombasa, boasts an active and eective residents

orum that enables residents to engage with the municipal council on a continuing basis. Whether or not thismodel could eectively be customized or Mombasa, a much larger and more complex city, is a topic that will

require urther investigation.34 For instance, eorts by the World Bank to operationalize a stakeholder orum in Nairobi have thus ar not

been successul.

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NGOs so that they develop the competencies required to: (a) assist communi-ties to develop community action plans (CAPs) that reect local priorities andtake account o existing rameworks or planning such as the Local AuthorityService Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP); (b) broaden community understand-ing o devolved unds and other resources; (c) promote community utilizationo devolved unds and other local resources; and (d) tackle the widely reportedcommunity apathy towards local development. Some o these competencieswill be common to all NGOs, especially those related to corporate governance,accountability and organizational efciency, while other competencies will betailored to the particular mandates o dierent NGOs. echnical assistance todevelop the necessary competencies will take dierent orms, designed to meetthe specic needs o the target NGOs, including training, study tours andimproving support systems.2. COmPeTenCIes And benChmArKs: ngOs

Urbis could seek to work with the selected NGOs to identiy and benchmarkthe key competencies NGOs require to: (a) manage their operations in asustainable and accountable ashion; (b) empower communities to prepare andimplement their CAPs; and (c) engage with the municipal council, the centralgovernment and other key stakeholders. Field investigations have pointed tothe need to support a range o competencies vital or success. Tese includegovernance, including the preparation o strategic plans, efcient utilizationo nancial and human resources and perormance monitoring; evaluation;and learning. Tis is an illustrative list, which Urbis can modiy and expand inconsultation with specic NGOs, and develop perormance benchmarks oreach area o support. Governance, or instance, will ocus on the leadership anddirection o the selected NGOs, drawing a distinction between the responsibil-ities o the board, on the one hand, and o management, on the other. NGOswill be supported to: (a) clearly articulate their vision, mission and goals, whichare shared by all in the organization and by the principal stakeholders; (b) pre-pare strategic plans that are aligned with their mission; (c) develop the capacityto assist CBOs in the preparation o CAPs; (d) improve their credibility withtheir stakeholders; (e) develop operational systems to ensure accountability;and () develop communication strategies or promoting dialogue with com-munities, on the one hand, and the municipal council, on the other.

In helping NGOs develop competencies in these areas, Urbis would develop astandard against which these organizations will measure their perormance.

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3. COmPeTenCIes And benChmArKs: CbOs

Urbis can also seek to improve the capacity o NGOs so that they are able to:(a) assist CBOs in developing CAPs that are easible and reect local priori-ties; (b) help CBOs develop a broad understanding o community resourcesand devolved unds; and (c) develop and benchmark CBO competencies as ameans o supporting the implementation, monitoring and evaluation o CAPs.Competencies at this level will also ocus on the promotion o governance toensure that community drives CBO members and that the CBOs are demo-cratic, accountable and goal-oriented.

E. Potential Challenges and Opportunities oImplementing Urbis in Mombasa

ChALLenges:

Tere are more than 140 political parties in the country, which can bringpolitics to a basic level. Te parties have taken advantage o tribal andethnic dierences o Mombasas highly diverse population, at times causing

strident divisions within a single community.

Private sector and industrial interests in Mombasa appear to be preoccupiedwith their own narrow business interests and have historically not madesignicant contributions to improve living and working conditionsin Mombasa.

Corruption is still pervasive throughout the country and some municipalcouncilors are have reportedly used their power to maximize their own

economic rewards.

For all the above reasons, social capital in Mombasa is weak, which presentsa signicant challenge to NGOs and CBOs working in Mombasa.

OPPOrTUnITIes:

Te government o Kenya has taken concrete steps over the last several yearsto enhance transparency and accountability in public service delivery. Te

process is slow but is beginning to yield results.

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Tere is increased awareness amongst the poor that they have rights, whichcan be credited to the number o vibrant civil society activists and organiza-tions, supported by motivated and dedicated sta.

Many local NGOs and CBOs are ocused on the same issues and recognizethe need to work together to achieve results.

Local organizations also understand the need to not only challenge andhold government accountable, but also to work in partnership with localgovernment to solve their problems.

Governance trends in Kenya are strongly towards decentralization and

devolution, which will lead to even greater levels o unding earmarked orprogramming with local communities to address their priorities or povertyreduction.

Tere is an opportunity to link community action plans with the de-volved unds available rom the government o Kenya, thereby creating thepotential or Urbis to have a concrete impact on improving conditions inMombasas urban poor communities.

Several NGOs have experience in supporting capacity building, and Urbis

should make the most o this potential resource.

Tere is a growing impatience and resolve amongst the poor towards theprogress on addressing issues important to them.

F. Conclusion

Urbis capacity building support to civil society organizations inMombasa will have signicant impacts, both in helping Mombasasurban poor to increase their inuence over planning and investment

decisions that aect their daily lives as well as in producing a rich set o lessonslearned rom Mombasas vibrant community o NGOs and CBOs:

Tirty-seven percent o Mombasas population lives below the poverty lineand virtually all o the urban poor live in over 55 slums spread across thecity, with limited access to clean water, sanitation and secure tenure.

Te central government is investing signicant and increasing levels ocapital unding in community level inrastructure and services programs,

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which by law require community stakeholder involvement in establishingpriorities and plans.

As these programs are relatively new and communities are not well organized,political elites (both local councilors and national members o parliament attimes) have ound ways to bypass community involvement in the planning othese investments, even diverting the unds or other purposes.

Over the last several years, Mombasas CBOs and NGOs have demonstratedconsiderable energy and a rare collective resolve to strengthen the engage-ment o poor communities in programming and monitoring these capitalunds to improve their living conditions and reduce poverty.

While their initiatives have realized limited success in improving accountability,there is real scope and a broadly shared interest to strengthen the capacity othese NGOs and the urban poor communities engaged in these eorts.

Tere is openness to learning and a desire to know how these problems havebeen solved elsewhere, with real opportunities both or South-South learningas well as drawing on Mombasas sister city relationship with Seattle.

Kenya installed a new government in early 2008, so the timing is right to

work with the national and local institutions or change.

In conclusion, Mombasa provides a good balance o challenges and opportuni-ties or learning that warrant urther eorts under Urbis.

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