UN boss "humbled" by poverty in a Nairobi slum

NAIROBI, Jan 30 (Reuters) The United Nations' new secretary-general said today he was ''humbled'' by the sight of poverty in one of Africa's biggest slums -- but some locals complained he saw little of their daily struggle for survival.

Ban Ki-moon swept into Nairobi's Kibera slum for a lightning visit, barely seeing beyond an unruly scrum of photographers, reporters and security officers, a tiny section of the slum that covers 544 acres.

Crowded with ramshackle shanties, Kibera houses about one million people.

He walked past a derelict railway line, where some hawkers quickly dragged rows of secondhand shoes and scrap metal out of the way of the approaching crowd, their only sight of him was the blue UN cap he wore.

''Having seen this situation where many people are suffering from a lack of affordable housing, sanitation, water, medical facilities, I feel very humbled,'' Ban said as dark clouds threatened a downpour that usually turns Kibera's dusty alleyways into open streams of sewage.

''At the same time, I feel very sad about the difficulties our citizens are suffering,'' he said, on his first official visit to Kenya.

Ban, who took the helm of the world body in January, promised to work to generate the necessary ''political will'' to ensure the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

Most experts say the goals to halve extreme poverty, cut infant mortality and combat HIV among other targets by 2015 are well behind schedule.

''We need more sympathy and compassion for the developing world, especially from richer nations,'' Ban said, calling the ''African issue'' one of his top priorities.

Anne Wanjiru, who has lived all her life in Kibera, was disappointed Ban did not speak to her and other slum dwellers about the reality of trying to make less than a dollar a day pay for food, school fees, clothing and rent.

''Kofi Annan was here and did nothing for us,'' she said, referring to Ban's predecessor. ''We're hoping this Moon (Ban Ki-moon) will make a change. Even now we feel very bad we could not talk to him about our problems.'' Moments later Ban's car drove him away past iron kiosks offering electrical repairs and a public toilet charging 3 shillings a go, the only one for hundreds of people.

REUTERS SP BD2250