Affordable Houses Are There But Govt Not Helping- Mwaki Singer Over Mathare Crisis
Nzau had initially intended to donate food and a few essentials to the residents, including clothes, but discovered that the scenario in Mathare manifested into a humanitarian crisis.
Marvin Chege 
Kenyan vocalist and songwriter Sophia Wanjiku, professionally known as Sofiya Nzau, on Wednesday, May 29 shared her account of her visit to Mathare, Nairobi County, which was Nairobi's hardest hit area by the heavy flooding that occurred in April.
In a video she shared on her Instagram account, the Mwaki hitmaker disclosed that she had purchased donations for distribution to the residents amidst the mass displacement of people following the floods and the government's directive for evacuations from riparian land.
Nzau had initially intended to donate food and a few essentials to the residents, including clothes, but discovered that the scenario in Mathare manifested into a humanitarian crisis.
Watch the video below:
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"We found out that the situation in Mathare is really bad. So many families have lost their homes and each other, some have lost their loved ones to the floods like they died, and for some of them, it's just the separation of husband and wife.
"The wife and the husband are not living together because the wife is living in a church and the husband is living in a mosque or you find a place where men are living together, 25 men in a very small space," she narrated.
Consequently, Nzau collaborated with a local CBO, the Mathare Social Justice Centre, in a bid to raise funds to construct a temporary shelter that will ease congestion in the few available areas where displaced persons are living, as they figure out their next course of action.
She accused the government of not providing shelter to the people of Mathare during the crisis, citing the Affordable Housing project by President William Ruto which would have helped alleviate the crisis were it not for the punitive measures in place for them to stay in the facilities for the time being.
"What we want to bring awareness to is that the people of Mathare need shelter and the government is not helping. There are so many houses, the affordable houses are available but they're [the government] not helping the people of Mathare with them," she added.
"So if we can be able to build something for them to sleep at this time whereas they are figuring out their lives because most of them lost their jobs."
Nzau collaborated with Brazilian producer Zerb on the widely celebrated Mwaki jam. The urgent progressive house track became a world dance sensation soon after it was released in November 2023 and catapulted Nzau to global fame, raising her musical profile and seeing her featured on countless international music platforms.
The track - sung in the Kenyan language of Kikuyu - also gained momentum with a plethora of remixes by leading music producers including Major Lazer and Tiësto and with juicy edits from Franky Wah, Major League DJz, Tyler ICU, and Chris Avantgarde.
A Spotify chart released on November 16, 2023, declared the song the 'Most Viral Song in the World' after being featured at Number One in a list titled 'Viral Songs Global'.
Nzau's statement came a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki announced that the government is providing a one-off support payment of Ksh10,000 to each of the 40,000 affected households.
As of Tuesday, 25,000 households received this support, with the remainder expected to receive their payments by May 31, 2024. Those displaced will also receive priority consideration in the ongoing affordable housing program.
“Members of the public must be allowed to vacate structures or premises which are the subject for removal and to retrieve their belongings,” Kindiki emphasized.
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