Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary Zachariah Njeru has defended the proposed Housing Fund deductions, saying no Kenyan will lose their money.
Njeru said the fund will create a long-term financing mechanism for housing in the country so as to ensure every Kenyans including those at the bottom of the pyramid have decent homes.
The minister asked Kenyans to support the deductions as they are meant to help the majority of Kenyans own homes.
The CS, who spoke in Kirinyaga on Wednesday during a visit to the Kerugoya affordable housing project site, said the government is committed to prudent management of the fund.
He said Kenyans who lacked financial muscles have been shunned by financial institutions and therefore have no chance of owning a home.
Njeru said that the housing projects will significantly increase employment opportunities for Kenyans as they are expected to provide both skilled and unskilled labour during the construction phases.
“We are requesting, in line with the President’s directive, that when it comes to labour, the contractor gets local people and uses local materials. We also encourage local jua kali artisans to come up and provide as many components as possible,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
The Cabinet Secretary said that the affordable housing project has 69 standardized components for uniformity and that so far 36000 units are already under construction.
He said the Kenya Kwanza administration plans to construct one million units by the end of its first term, with 200,000 units being constructed every year.
Kirinyaga Deputy Governor David Githanda said that the County Government had identified more land across the county for the consecutive phases of the affordable housing project.
The county government projects to have at least 1,000 low-cost housing units.
The first phase of the project in Kirinyaga will comprise 100 units after which the second phase will commence.
Githanda said the county government was pleased to note that the contractor had committed to completing the construction of the houses within eight months and not one year as projected earlier.
He said Governor Anne Waiguru has committed to providing more land for affordable houses at Sagana, Mwea and Kianyaga.
Area MCA Eric Muchina lauded the project saying it will enormously change the facelift of Kerugoya town and open up many more employment opportunities for the locals.
He however urged the government to consider modernizing the local cloth market nearing the site in a bid to achieve an efficient business environment for the traders.
