On Tuesday, August 6, the Daily Nation newspaper shared an article titled ‘Puzzle of Ruto Housing Projects,’ which purported the government was struggling to sell the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) completed units.
In a rejoinder statement to the press, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said the article was not only mischievous but also deliberately misleading.
Notably, the article was anchored on Auditor General Nancy Gathungu’s audit report, which focused on housing projects launched before President William Ruto assumed office in September 2022.
Therefore, Hussein said none of the houses listed in the newspaper story fall under Ruto’s AHP.
“The Affordable Housing Program, a key pillar of the Bottom Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), did not emerge without clear planning and foresight. It was articulated and outlined in the Kenya Kwanza manifesto. It fulfills the constitutional obligation that enumerates housing as one of the basic economic and social rights in Article 43(b), which states that everyone has the right to accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation.
The Daily Nation’s convoluted story grossly overlooks the fact that the Affordable Housing Program was designed differently from previous housing programs, with specific policy interventions to lower the costs of housing significantly to ensure affordability for ordinary Kenyans,” the government said.
The interventions put in place to lower the cost of housing include access to public land, provision of free last-mile services like sewerage, electricity, water, and internet, and exemption of all construction inputs under AHP from value-added tax (VAT).
In the statement, the government said these interventions have enabled the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to sell units at between KSh 1 million to KSh 3 million, compared to the previous high of between KSh 7 and KSh 8 million.
Contrary to the assertions in the newspaper, the government said the uptake for units under AHP is exceptionally high.
For instance, the government revealed it demolished 39 units of old houses in Park Road, Nairobi, and replaced them with 1,370 affordable units, all of which were sold out within 90 days.
“To illustrate the huge demand for affordable housing, when half of the 1,370 units at Park Road were offered to members of the public, over 33,000 Kenyans paid deposits of at least 10 percent. Most of those who missed out have not asked for a refund of their money and are instead waiting to be allocated other units under the AHP,” Hussein added.
