- The money will be utilised by the 290 constituencies.
- The funds have been set aside in the first Supplementary Budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
Image: JEPTUM CHESIYNA
MPs will now be at the center of President William Ruto's affordable housing plan after the budget committee allocated them Sh1.5 billion.
The move is aimed at complementing the Kenya Kwanza's affordable housing agenda that aims at constructing over 200,000 houses per year across the country.
The money will be utilised by the 290 constituencies, as President Ruto's administration moves to dangle carrots for MPs to support his agenda in Parliament.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah said on Tuesday that the money has been set aside in the first supplementary budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
Speaking when he supported the Budget Committee report on the mini-budget, Ichung'wah said the money will serve as seed capital for MPs' involvement in the development of affordable housing.
"With this money, all the 290 constituencies will have see capital for affordable housing," the Kikuyu MP said.
"I want to encourage members of Parliament to identify public land in their constituencies where affordable housing can be done with this seed capital coming in."
The programme, Ichung'wah, said will spur economic activities across the 290 constituencies through job creation at the grassroots.
"When you put up 100 housing units in Kikuyu or Rarienda, the people that will be employed in that constituency will not be less than 2000 youth," he said.
This is the first time that the government is allocating billions of shillings to constituencies to address affordable housing, a key pillar of Ruto's administration.
The programme is parallel from the one being spearheaded by the Ministry of Housing and Lands in partnership with county governments.
However, it is not clear if the NG-CDF committees will be responsible of managing the funds and modalities of identifying land.