Early in December, the first batch of houses completed under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s affordable housing project was handed over to homeowners.
Some 1,730 completed units constructed at the Park Road, Ngara site were officially handed over to those who qualified through the Boma Yangu portal.
The move paves way for the construction of the second phase in Shauri Moyo, Embakasi and Athi River where some 3,000 units will be constructed.
According to Housing PS Charles Hinga, 310,378 Kenyans have registered in the Boma Yangu and Huduma portal raising over Sh463 million.
Those who contributed the minimum 12.5 per cent (Sh187,500) qualify for the allocation.
Hinga said the allocation for the Park Road project which is a mixed settlement considered civil servants and non-civil servants on 60-to-40 per cent criteria.
He said the 60 per cent (822 units) have been occupied by the members of police and Kenya Defence Forces.
He said another project in Rongai called King’s is 65 per cent complete and will be handed over to the government in due course.
“We want Kenyans to understand and see beyond Parkroad, there are so many other developments that are going on. We have a huge pipeline of 5,551 units in different stages being delivered,’ he said.
With regards to misinformation that the government is constructing houses for Kenyans, Hinga said Kenyans are now starting to understand what affordable housing is all about.
“Homeownership is not a privilege for a few. And when we say affordable houses, it is not synonymous with poor quality. With the simplified messages we have been running this should help us tell Kenyans that whatever they are paying for rent, there is a package for them under the affordable housing,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta under his Big Four Agenda promised 500,000 affordable housing units for Kenyans by 2022 as one of the deliverables from his flagship projects.
Hinga said some other 5,551 units are under pipeline on various stages of construction.
The lowest price for the one-bedroom unit 30 sq metres is set at Sh1.5 million but there might be slight variation for projects not on government land but registered under the AHP programme through the Bomayangu portal.
“Overall we shall have one bedroom of 30sqm selling at Sh1.5 million, 2 bedroom of 40sqm at Sh2million, 2 bedroom 60sqm at Sh3 million, 3 bedroom of 60sqm at Sh3, 550,000 and 3 bedroom 80sqm at Sh4 million,” Hinga said.
This will apply for houses within Nairobi.
In Embu, a two-bedroomed house will cost Sh3.5 million while three bedroomed will go for Sh4.8 million.
In Machakos, while a two-bedroom will cost Sh3.3 million, a three-bedroom will cost Sh4.3 million compared to Kiambu where a one-bedroom will cost Sh2.25 million, two-bedroom Sh4 million and a three-bedroom with master en-suite Sh5.4 million.
Under the same project, a one-bedroom in Kisumu will cost Sh2.25 million, two-bedroom Sh3.75 million while a three-bedroom with master en-suite Sh5.4 million.
"Once a member has been allocated a unit, they will be removed from the AHP Purchase Allocation Waiting List," he said.
So far, the government has identified 40 locations across the country with 20,000 acres of land being set aside to construct 621,523 houses.
Nairobi’s Eastlands area is among the locations that will host these units, with a total of 186,242 out of the 621,523 houses. So far, 1,509 houses have been completed, awaiting allocation in this month.
Despite this progress, a section of Jua Kali artisans from Nairobi’s Kamukunji Jua Kali Association have accused the PS of using proxies to get a Sh100 million tender at their expense.
Those who spoke to the Star on request of anonymity said the PS lobbied for a company identified as NGOKAMKA holdings to supply over 1,370 doors to the just-completed Parkroad units of the affordable housing.
According to them, Hinga handpicked and lured officials from the Association and artisans who operate along Ngong Road and Kariobangi and instructed them to form a private company behind their backs.
In documents seen by the Star, the said company was registered on February 24,2019 and was subcontracted in a contract price worth 100 million two months later on April 30,2019.
Its registered office is said to be at 1st Ngong Avenue, Building ACK Garden, House LR NO.209/8342/2.
The company has three main directors who also double as shareholders alongside seven others.
According to an agreement dated April 30, China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd contracted Ngokamka in a deal worth Sh99,895,883.86.
The company was to supply 8,832 doors and door frames.
The PS is said to have written to Mi Xiliang, the Project Manager China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd directing him to subcontract the company.
“This is to, therefore, request that you fast track the negotiation in good faith with Ngokamka for the delivery of ring-fenced items for the Park Road project,” read part of the letter dated April 17.
“Any support that the entity requires will be provided by State Department for Housing and Urban Development to enable them meet the demand and the quality of the products,” it read.
But Hinga dismissed the claims terming them baseless.
Hinga in an interview with the Star said he could not comment on rumours because no complaint had been presented to his office.
The PS said the government does not involve itself in the consortium’s internal affairs.
“I don't comment on rumours and there's nothing that is on my desk officially. Here they are. You can ask them who they are,” he said while directing us to speak to the officials of the company.
“Part of the government is not interfering with private entities or whatever they are given. They were given the work by the contractor ask them how they share the work,” he added.
We reached out to Joseph Ngure Muhia, the Chairman of the company who said the allegations were neither here nor there.
Though he did not dismiss or agree to the claims that they were handpicked by the PS, Muhia said, “When a project is starting, everybody cannot be involved. Those allegations are neither here nor there because it is common knowledge that starting points always have challenges”.
He added, “We are not a private company but a group company with 12 directors out of whom 4 are drawn from each of the three associations”.
Muhia confirmed that they had only supplied 1,370 doors and frames worth Sh100 million instead of the over 8,000 indicated in the contract.
Muhia also doubles up as one of the directors cum shareholders.
Other directors cum shareholders are Eliud Muthiga Mbiyu and Peter Mwema Muthaaka.
Shareholders include Eunice Wanjiru Mwangi, Jared Omolo Akumu and Joseph Mungai Mburu.
They are chairlady, Vice-chairman, and treasurer respectively for Kamukunji Jua Kali Association.
Others listed as shareholders include Edward Okoth Otieno, Daniel Macharia Kihanya, Cynthia Andrine, Wanjiku Kamau and George Gitau Wachira.
Mbiyu when reached for comment said the company with a membership of 10,000 requested the government to be given an opportunity in the project.
He said an official from the Small and Medium Enterprises department under the Office of the President approached the leadership of the three Jua Kali Associations and told them to corporate in order to get the tenders.
“The government heard our cry. We were nominated from the three associations and advised to form the company. The government officials then introduced us to the developer who actually gave us the contract to make the doors,” he said.
“This was a pilot project because again the government was testing waters to see if the Jua Kali sector has the capacity. We could therefore not bid for the entire population in Kenya to get the job,” Mbiyu said.
He said the project is going on countrywide and instead of complaining those aggrieved should start preparations to do the next bidding for the Shauri Moyo or Embakasi project.
The artisans however said they had felt betrayed by the leaders whom they said bided for the contract using their certificate.
“We are a legally registered entity. They used our certificate to win the contract and instead of bringing the money here, they chose a few people loyal to them and started parallel operations,” one of the artisans said,
“They are fraudsters because when we raised the concerns they split and formed a parallel-group with those loyal to them. When we persisted with concerns, they moved to court seeking to access our offices but the membership refused because we felt we were betrayed,” another artisan noted.
According to them, if the PS is honest with the deal, he would have allowed each association to do its bidding and be subcontracted independently.
"It is unfair for them to use our bank account for an illegal company without our consent,” another artisan said.
The artisans said after the scuffle that saw the said officials ejected from their offices, tension has been high as a group of youth has been hired to target them.
We are appealing to the DCI to move in ad investigate because this is a criminal matter. We cannot live in fear because we don’t know who is marking who,” they said.
The artisans said EACC should help them establish the real owners of the said Ngokamka Company.
