Modern Cities or Ways of Dying Early?
In our last issue of this magazine, I shared an article detailing my trip to Uganda. I mentioned that while I had visited Uganda twice before my last trip, there were some things about Uganda that I had not paid attention to, and when I noticed them on this last trip, I was thrilled.
One such example is the use of clay bricks in architecture, which I see Ugandans use massively for their buildings. I even mentioned speaking with a clay brick maker who gave me some gist about how he does his craft. Please read the article here.
I can tell you that there are loads of things to love about Uganda, but I just cannot help myself from loving its stance on using clay bricks for its architecture. I love the idea to bits, and it makes sense.
Are we building death-traps in Nairobi?
I am very much aware that some Kenyans are very emotional, and sometimes, away from reason, when you mention things that are not right about Kenya. The massive toxic attitudes you get from Kenyans online point to this fact. But my wife and son are Kenyan, so what affects them affects me, and thus I must share my thoughts about the things that could affect them negatively. And one of the things that bothers me about a city like Nairobi is how buildings are erected in the capital city and the potential hazards of the building materials they use.
Every now and then, my family and I move to visit different parts of Kenya, and that gives me a first-hand opportunity to see how things are on the ground, away from what you hear in the media. There are places we’ve been in Kenya that excited my mind so much because they are more magnificent than what the popular narrative was.
We mostly come back to Nairobi to stay for a while and then go on to another part of the country. Just imagine with me for a moment what would come to your mind when you visit the neighborhood you left three months ago, and you come and find monstrosities called high-rise buildings filling the space where a bungalow once stood. And then you asked yourself, how did this massive building get built in just three months? And then when you look at the building critically and then consider the amount of cement, paint and other chemicals that was used to build it, not to talk of the proximity of these high-rises to each other, which cuts off sunlight, ventilation and critical airflow, it makes you wonder what is the meaning of our so-called modernity, especially the mindless ways that we have embraced it in Africa.
The media got it right
I read an article on the Daily Nation newspaper titled: Low-cost housing and Sick Building Syndrome. That two-page article gave a massive exposition to what we have been saying in this magazine concerning how we Africans accept the foolishness called modernity and then behave surprised when the after effects of such mindless modernity come and hit our faces. One of the main captions that caught my eyes and which confirms my fear about the hazards of Nairobi buildings says: “According to the Nairobi County Government, an alarming 60% of the buildings coming up in the capital city are not fit to for occupation, because the developers are not complying with set guidelines”. The same article claims that 80% of buildings in the country are built without the input of professionals.
This caption was the first thing that caught my eye and also prompted me to ask, “Who approves the building plans in Nairobi before the foundations of the buildings are laid?” “Who receives the fees for building permits in Nairobi?” Who is supposed to monitor construction sites to make sure laid-down rules and guidelines are adhered to while the building is being erected? The answer to all the questions is obviously the Nairobi County Government. No one else.
To give you a clearer context for what I am talking about, I will share a few excerpts from the article.
According to the article, this faulty building trend is causing what is called “sick building syndrome”, where residents living in some parts of Nairobi are reporting health complications linked to the period they spent in some buildings. “You may have heard of people complain of feeling unwell when they are at home, when they go away for a few days, they feel better, only for them to feel unwell again once they return”. The article quoted an architect. And not to talk of the increase in cancer deaths, asthma cases, and the various respiratory diseases that are on the increase in the land.
Also, in a controlled demolition, which involved the Kenyan Defense Force (KDF), an eleven-story building was brought down in Mombasa. The building was tilting due to some fault in its foundation, or as the developer’s spokesperson puts it, “a geotechnical shift”. The developers claimed no fault on their part, citing going above and beyond all legally prescribed standards for building construction. The building cost about 350 million Kenyan Shillings.
Imagine if this demolished building were completed and had people living in all the apartments within the building, and it collapsed without warning due to a “geotechnical shift”. What kind of disaster would that be?
But I like the way the article on Nairobi building ended with counsel that resonates with me, it says: “Using locally available construction materials such as earthen bricks and timber, cannot only prevent these health complications, but also boost the allure of the buildings.”
This counsel, though thoughtful, is not a new idea about how to make building construction work with the environment; it’s what the so-called primitive Africans have always used for all building construction. Even if Kenyans think it is so far-fetched to return to building with earth, even though I know it’s not, we should at least learn from Uganda.
While we may love to delude ourselves or even make excuses for our mindless modernity and monster cities that we are building, simply because we want to appear like the USA or even outbuild Beijing in China, we cannot however lie to ourselves that an alarming 60% of the buildings coming up in the capital city are not fit to for occupation. That’s not a city we are building; we are building a death-trap and a crime scene. 10% should make us worry and speak out. 30% should make us gather at the Nairobi parliament to seek answers. 60% should make us call for a national emergency.
I remember our good friend Dr Jack Githae, in an interview we did with him on his farm in Nyeri, saying that, the way construction is going in Nairobi, in fifty years, Nairobi will likely become uninhabitable. A few years ago, the former Chief Justice of Kenya, David Maraga, also shared his concern for Nairobi’s building trend. We need to pay attention before it’s too late.
We must pay attention
While I am concerned about the dangerous building trend that is going on right now in Nairobi, my concern is also about what is going on in the Nigerian construction industry and in various parts of the African continent. We cannot force modernity on ourselves without thinking critically about the human and environmental hazards that we are creating. According to UNEP, cement, aluminum, and steel, or the construction industry, create 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that is not small. And while there are thousands of research studies going on globally about sustainable building construction methods, we must stop making it look like it’s rocket science that needs special brains, large funding, and some formula that we have never seen before.
It’s not news that clay, jaggery, lime, sugarcane ash, sugar, egg white, rocks, timber, strawbale, etc., all work as natural materials for building highly effective and carbon-sequestering houses. Fort Jesus in Mombasa was built more than five hundred years ago using coral, jaggery, lime, and other natural materials. And it’s still standing like it was built last year. Same with the Great Wall of China, which was built with lime, rice starch, and other natural materials. It’s still standing after two thousand years. So, let’s stop these carefully crafted time-wasting and so-called new natural building methods for sustainable development. We have always known and used them in Africa and other indigenous places on earth. Let’s just stop trying to make these materials look scientifically mysterious and thus make it too expensive for the normal guy on the street to afford or even think of. We cannot keep trying to make money from what we should be considering as real emergencies.
My advice
Uganda’s use of clay bricks for its architecture should be adopted by anyone who is concerned about where our modern cities are going, or we can explore other natural materials without doing damage to the environment and people. We cannot pay lip service or just flaunt data everywhere in regards to the issues, like how the Nairobi County Government seems to be acting surprised but not stopping the menace going on in the construction industry in the county, while they are the same people who approve the building plans and should have oversight on how things are done. It’s their job and responsibility to be mindful of what is going on in Nairobi, while it’s the job of every human to be mindful of what is going on in their homes and immediate environment, and communities.
We must adopt the mindset that thinks differently in dealing with the various challenges we have in Africa. Following global trends sheepishly has not led us anywhere meaningful.
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