Exploring Initiatives to Support Housing for Low Income Households in African Cities: A Case for Re-Championing the Swahili House in Eastern Africa

Abstract

Currently, many African governments, do nothing about how urbanites in their swelling cities, house themselves; a complete turn-about from the stance in the decades after independence, when efforts were on operationalizing what Okpala termed “received standards”, which projected popular responses to housing as a problem. This paper, based on a study of housing economies in African cities, and focused on Bunju, a mixed-income neighbourhood in Dar es Salaam, argues that downplaying the advantageous Swahili House, grew from the non-prioritization of housing, demonstrated by lack of a national housing policy. In the 1960s/70s, this 6-8 roomed shared House, enabled the Tanzanian government to operationalize a financing model. Rebuilt low quality houses were returned to owners who rented out rooms to repay the loans for upgrading. Known as muzigo (Uganda), and majengo (Kenya), it housed masses throughout East Africa. As household status/income rose, preference for single households units grew, leaving poor households marooned in dilapidated or incomplete Swahili houses, with no government beneficial intervention. The Swahili house dots areas like Bunju, not as in the past, when it dominated whole neighbourhoods. It endears itself to the incremental building model, suiting landlords’ and tenants’ pockets. A national housing policy, advocated herein, envisages the formulation of locally-informed housing standards, incorporating the Swahili house. Governments would improve mass housing by providing basic infrastructure; and ameliorating residential buildings through soft financing based on rental income. Thus, championing the Swahili House is a viable alternative for securing decent housing for lower-middle to low income urban households.