By Grace Shaw and Tia Rawlings
Against the backdrop of soaring rent prices and burgeoning homelessness, Kwajo Tweneboa is a social housing activist who channels his creativity and commitment to make a difference in the lives of the community’s most vulnerable.
He is spreading the transformative dialogue that shelter should not be regarded just as a privilege but as an unassailable human right.
Tweneboa, 25, was a panelist at London Metropolitan University’s Journalism Newsweek, Dirty London, and told students: “I grew up in a working class family, two working class parents, my mum from Ireland, my dad from Ghana, they both met as a carer so they helped look after the elderly.”
Starting his journey by posting exposé videos of appalling housing conditions to social media; Tweneboa’s campaigning and activism has raised his profile resulting in interviews with the Guardian, Sky News and the BBC.
His social media profiles have tens of thousands of followers and he has been a guest speaker on various podcasts. Also, he was offered an MBE for his trailblazing work – which he refused to accept.
Attending secondary school in Croydon, Tweneboa’s earlier years were marked by a deep appreciation for the arts, finding solace and inspiration in the world of creativity. He explained that being creative makes time fly by and is something we should all try to be.
“I think growing up is when I learned or honed in on my creativity. There were times where I spent 13 hours painting, for example, not really taking any breaks, eating or anything, and I wouldn’t even feel that bad.”
Passion for social justice
As he navigated the challenges of adolescence, Tweneboa’s artistic endeavours took a backseat to the pressing realities of life. However, his passion for social justice was ignited when he witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by those in inadequate housing situations within his own community and himself.
The stark contrast between the artistic vibrancy of Croydon and the harsh living conditions of some of its residents fueled Tweneboa’s desire to take action.
Tweneboa said: “Some of the worst conditions I’ve seen were in homes that had been flooded with raw sewage. I’ve taken people to A&E because the ceilings collapsed on them.”
“One lady was burned because a hot water pipe blew a hole in the wall and created a puddle on all the steps down to the front door. Loads of steam, loads of smoke. Therefore there was a fire where they tried to escape and stepped right into boiling hot water. And I mean, it was so hot.
“Her daughter went down in wellies and it melted the wellies and her mum, she went down barefoot. So, she was permanently scarred from that….You name it. I’ve seen it.”
Top of political agenda
Tweneboa campaigns to push housing to the top of the political agenda and provide support and adequate housing for the poorest tenants in London.
“Housing affects absolutely everything. And it affects everyone. All 67 million people in this country, it affects all of our lives. Whether you’re a rough sleeper on the street, or you live in a mansion.”
“Housing also affects education, it affects the NHS because they spend 1.4 billion pounds looking after people living in poor conditions. It affects education because 139,000 kids are homeless in England alone. And that’s up by about 7000 in the last three months.”
“The fact that 1.4 million people are currently on a social housing waiting list. Yet, in 2022, we knocked down more homes than we actually built that year, social homes, which makes no sense whatsoever in fixing this crisis. It’s not until you fix the social housing crisis, which is our foundation, you can’t build anything on broken foundations before you can start dealing with the issues in the private rented sector.”
Tweneboa’s work has been recognised throughout the UK, which in turn, led to his nomination for an MBE. He knew he was going to turn it down.
He shared on social media: “I cannot accept being honoured or receiving a title off the back of an issue which realistically should never have existed and in saying that I felt compelled to turn it down.”
Power for change
Tweneboa believes that journalists, especially the new generation of journalists, have the power to be the change-makers of the future to shed light on pressing issues that affect people up and down the country.
“I think journalists underestimate their power when it comes to these stories, because the only real people to hold or that can hold the government to account are journalists. Because of shame. No one wants to be a top story. No one wants to be a news item for negative reasons. And politicians don’t want that at all.”
Tweneboa spoke passionately about the future of the planet and explained that politicians need to be addressing and tackling the issue of climate change now.
“I think it says something when the leaders of this country care more about demonising migrants than the potential risk of wiping out humanity because of climate change.”
“We are already seeing situations where ice caps are melting and as a result small islands around the world are flooding and becoming inhabitable. There’s going to be forced displacement,” he said.
“These individuals are going to have to go somewhere and we’re complaining and crying about immigration now but in fifty years time….these individuals will be coming to Britain and they absolutely should. Why? Because our governments have delayed and tackled these issues too late to the point of no return.”
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