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Governance expert and constitutional lawyer PLO Lumumba addresses the media during the National Conference on the State of Homelessness and Street-Connectedness in Nairobi, July 29,2026. [Collins Oduor, Standard]
Stakeholders have challenged the government's official homelessness figures, estimating that between 300,000 and 500,000 people could be homeless or street-connected in Kenya despite official data placing the number at about 18,000.
Speaking during the National Conference on the State of Homelessness and Street-Connectedness in Nairobi on Wednesday, they called for urgent national action, arguing that homelessness has remained outside Kenya's development agenda despite years of advocacy.
"We have official data indicating that we have 18,000 street-connected persons in this country. From where we sit, based on our experience and interaction with communities, we think there are many more. In our estimation, the number is between 300,000 and 500,000," said Executive Director of the Undugu Society of Kenya Eric Mukoya.
