Moroto: Mombasa’s slum with a soul of its own

It’s a silent mantra that seems to define this 24-hour slum economy located in Kisauni, Mombasa County.

The slum never goes to sleep – and the residents seems to like it that way.

“This is like the little bedroom of Mombasa and Mtwapa, where people in the lower cadre of life come to rest after a day’s hustle,” says Musa Jasick, a resident and teacher living in Moroto.

According to the residents, most of the inhabitants are individuals who mostly spend their daytime hours pushing the needle in Mombasa town and Mtwapa in the neighbouring Kilifi county.

Residents consider the slum which came into being in 1985, as a supermarket of many things; the good, the bad and sometimes even the ugly.

Most of the inhabitants here work in the nearby industries, private schools and beach resorts.

Then there's the other category of inhabitants; peddlers of bang, slay-queens, sellers of mnazi and matengazi or palm wine, and chang’aa. 

“It’s a small place, but one that is full of life. People here like to party, and have fan, that is why many single women, or slay-queens if you like, are trooping here," says Musa who shares a wall with a drinking den.

Although the soft side of life in Moroto is appealing to both visitors and residents, there is some level of concern about some aspects of life here – like crime, sex and bingeing.

“Many criminals who escape police crack-down in surrounding areas often find Moroto to be the best place to melt into,” said another resident, Ali.

Parents too say raising up children in the area is not a cakewalk.

“There are many drinking dens scattered in this place, some right in the homesteads, and others in shared rental houses. These places have families, and some of them have children,” says Musa.

“Some of these children have seen and heard things a child should not. They see and interact with drunkards daily, even play with them,” said Musa.

It even goes deeper.

“There are cases where you will find school children helping their parents to serve alcohol, because the drinking dens are at home, even in homesteads” he says.

Just recently, security officers from Mombasa conducted a crackdown on Illicit brews in the area – as news of it notoriety seemed to have reached the doorsteps of administrators sitting in Mombasa.

Concerned parents, who daily continue facing the challenge of having to raise children in this kind of environment, are asking the county government to help improve lives in the area, and help protect children growing in the area from possible abuse.