Kenyans urged to treat homelessness as a constitutional and human rights crisis

The call comes amid growing concern over the scale of homelessness in the country.

While official government data has previously identified tens of thousands of street-connected persons in Kenya, stakeholders working with vulnerable communities warn that the true scale of homelessness is significantly higher.

Their estimates suggest that the number of people experiencing homelessness could be as high as 500,000 when broader categories of housing insecurity are considered.

Speaking during the National Conference on the State of Homelessness and Street-Connectedness in Nairobi, the Society emphasized that homelessness is not an accident of circumstance but the outcome of policy choices, systemic exclusion and development models that have failed to place human dignity at the centre.

Drawing on more than 53 years of working alongside street-connected persons and vulnerable communities, as well as recent engagements in Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, Nairobi and Kilifi counties, the Society noted that no one is born homeless. Instead, homelessness is created by systems that fail to protect the rights, dignity and opportunities of vulnerable citizens.

The Society, through its Executive Director Eric Mukoya, challenged prevailing narratives that reduce the right to shelter to affordable housing alone, arguing that housing must first be recognized as a constitutional and human right rather than merely a market commodity.

It warned that rapid urbanization, gentrification, displacement and widening inequality continue to push more Kenyans into homelessness while excluding many from the benefits of national development.

“Homelessness is not simply the absence of a house; it is the denial of dignity, belonging and equal citizenship,” the Society said, noting that people experiencing homelessness are often treated as social problems rather than citizens whose rights must be protected.

On his part, Wangalwa Kizito, the Director Programs and Committees at the Council of Governors observed that the issue of homelessness is an issue of inclusion. 

"The Council of Governors has onboarded the inclusion agenda. We must then also embed it as a conversation on how we can be able to go beyond the conversation about affordable housing, to the existence of homelessness, the existence of families on our streets that need care and protection to restore their dignity as human beings," remarked Kizito. 

The conference highlighted the human realities behind homelessness, including families struggling to survive on the margins, children exposed to unsafe environments in search of food, and vulnerable persons denied access to essential services because of stigma and discrimination.

Undugu Society further observed that Kenya continues to grapple with historical patterns of inequality that have shaped access to resources, opportunities and services for decades.