Kenya is a growing market for pesticides. According to the Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK), pesticide imports more than doubled between 2015 and 2018. Sales data shows that 76 percent of the total volume of pesticides used in the country contain one or more active ingredients that are categorized as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). Pesticides are classified as highly hazardous if they pose serious health risks or irreversible damage to the environment. Their potential to cause cancer, disrupt hormonal and nervous systems, lead to genetic defects or harm unborn children, are among the list of human health concerns being raised by civil society organizations.
This paper seeks to explore the topographies of abandonment and pandemic policing in Kenya’s urban-informal settlements. Through a connection of spatial territories1, I explore the continuation of the colonial era divide and rule tactics to govern what seems as Kenya’s fragmented regions through the duration of the government COVID-19 combatting mechanisms. Through ethnographic research, this paper tries to connect the struggles of Kenya’s poor urban populations secluded in ‘slum areas’ on their daily quest for survival by engaging in a fight against a pandemic and state violence. Notwithstanding the daily denials of basic needs and priorities by both government and potential de facto urban management.
