Kirinyaga hands over land for affordable housing

The government has commenced the process of building affordable housing units in rural counties.

Under the programme, Kirinyaga is the second beneficiary after Machakos where a launch was Friday held at Kerugoya town in which a section of the houses will be established.

Other areas across the county in which the houses will be put up are Mwea and Sagana.

Speaking on Friday in Kerugoya town during the handing over of the land to the National Housing Corporation (NHC), county governor Anne Waiguru said that the infrastructure will provide decent housing to the locals as well as spur urbanization and growth of Kerugoya town.

About 600 modern houses will be built in phases across a six-acre piece of land in Kerugoya.

The governor said that under the first phase of the project, 200 units will be constructed within Kerugoya town and the first 100 units will be completed within 52 weeks.

She however urged the government to add the county more units in a bid to help accommodate as many locals as possible.

"This will be 200 units for phase 1 even as we continue lobbying for phases 2 and 3. We are honoured that Kirinyaga has been chosen as the first county for this project," she said.

Waiguru said upon completion of the units, priority shall be given to the county civil servants and health care workers before shifting to other locals thus calling on them to start the process of purchasing them as the units have been advertised.

"For the Kerugoya houses, we shall give priority to the civil servants and to those in the health sector so that there are able to stay within Kerugoya so that they can be able to provide the services with ease."

The governor added that the project is a public-private partnership thus urging the private contractor tasked with the job to put in high professional efforts in a bid to have houses of high standards.

She further called on locals to offer a conducive environment and maximum cooperation to the contractor on the ground.

The governor further lauded the local county assembly for overwhelmingly giving a nod to the establishment of the units across the county.

On his part, the NHC chairperson Yusuf Chanzu thanked President William Ruto's administration for its commitment to establishing decent affordable housing units for all Kenyans.

He said under the programme, low-income earners and common wananchi will financially have the ability to buy the houses thus able to reside in comfortable houses.

He said the project will provide employment opportunities, especially to the unemployed youths thus able to uplift their economic lives.

With that regard, Chanzu urged the contractor to prioritize tapping the casual-related skill and manual labour from the locals.

He further called on Waiguru who doubles as the Council of governors' chair to help the corporation in the recovery of Sh.2.1 million which the entity is owed by the counties.

NHC managing director David Mathu called on the contractor to source most of the building materials and labour from the county in order to promote the locals.

His sentiments were echoed by the area MCA Eric Muchina who lauded the project saying it will transform the face of the ward.