On March 6 2019 MSJC launched its latest participatory action report, and this time it was the result of a year of collective work on the right to water in Eastlands. This report is called: Maji ni Uhai: Maji ni Haki: Eastlands Residents Demand Their Right to Water A Participatory Report, and can be dowloaded here (Maji ni Haki Report)
During the launch we were happy to have the presence of close to a hundred residents from Mathare, Kayole, Dandora, Kiambiu and Kamukunji, all of whom came to affirm their struggles with accessing clean and safe water for their families. The participants talked about the high cost of water and how unsafe it was when one could finally access it. MC from Ghetto Foundation told us how his beloved cousin died from cholera 24 hours after drinking contaminated water, and we also heard testimonies about how cartels control this resource in poor urban settlements.
The basic message at this report launch and in a subsequent piece we wrote together with Jill and Yash Ghai is that we are tired: everyone deserves water as it is a human right.
This report launch is part of a broader campaign for water justice in Mathare and Eastlands at large, and we invite you all to be part of it. We will fight to make sure water is accessible to all!
Many thanks to all those who made it. And a special thanks to the artists, members of the Social Justice Centres Working Group (SJCWG), Marcella Favretto from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Jill and Yash Ghai from Katiba Institute.
Maji ni Uhai Mai ni Haki!