Details of how billions of shilling are extorted from residents of various slums in Nairobi every year have emerged.
A report by the International Development Research Centre indicated that half of the Capital's population live in the informal sector with no access to basic services such as electricity, water, sanitary facilities among others.
According to the study, the locals are forced to pay heavily to access such services, controlled by a few individuals.
Housing and Planning Executive Tom Odongo revealed that cartels in these highly populated areas control the services and charge their readily available customers more than what other Kenyans pay.
"A few individuals receive power and water at Mukuru then sell it to other households. This means that anyone living in Mukuru pays more for power and water," Odongo was quoted by a local daily.
Mr Odongo disclosed that this amounts to over Sh7 billion which the County Government lose every year in the unscrupulous deals.
"Residents do not get services that are commensurate with what they spend in a year because of the cartels that extort money from them," Odongo noted.
Kenya Power has been cracking down on illegal connections in large slum areas in the Nairobi including Kibera, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mukuru Kwa Reuben, among others.
The electricity company had also earlier reported that it loses millions of shillings annually because of the illegal connections.
