- Senators have temporarily stopped the construction of affordable houses under the urban regeneration plan that is currently being undertaken by the Nairobi government.
- The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee has directed Governor Johnson Sakaja to halt the implementation of the project until the issues raised by the affected tenants are resolved.
Image: NCCG
Senators have temporarily stopped the construction of affordable houses under the urban regeneration plan that is currently being undertaken by the Nairobi government.
The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee has directed Governor Johnson Sakaja to halt the implementation of the project until the issues raised by the affected tenants are resolved.
The panel gave the orders to allow the Senate to deal with a petition by residents of three estates of Ofafa Jericho Ofafa, Jericho Lumumba and Maringo.
The petition has been pending before the Senate for over one year.
“The committee orders that the city-county halts the development of the 13 estates until this matter is concluded by the committee.” committee chair Karungo Thang’wa said.
The development comes even as it emerged that decades-old tenants of the county houses will not pay to own new housing units under the Nairobi Regeneration and Urban Renewal Programme.
Sakaja explained that the tenants have been paying rent for many years and hence will not be required to go back to their pockets to own the new houses.
"I however want to clarify that these will not be free houses. These tenants have been paying rent for 40 or even 50 years. They have been very loyal tenants, from parents to their children; now they will be able to own the houses," he said.
Sakaja said his Cabinet passed a resolution to give the new houses to tenants who have been paying rent to the defunct Nairobi City Council and then to the Nairobi City County Government
The committee said it was prudent that the issues being raised by the residents of the 13 estates be heard and determined before the implementation of the project starts.
“The People of these 13 estates fear that they are being left out and that they will lose out on their homes. It’s only fair that we deal with what they are raising before the project can take off,” Thang’wa said.
Governor Sakaja however pleaded with the committee to vary the ruling, claiming it will affect contractual obligations of the companies that have already signed a contract with the County Government.
Sakaja told the committee that the City had already signed seven contracts with different firms to develop seven estates in the city, and ordering for halting of the project would be counterproductive.
The earmarked estates for demolition and redevelopment are Woodley, Jericho, Ziwani, Maringo Kariobangi North, Bahati and Lumumba.
“It was not going to start in any case until we deal with these issues, but giving a blanket order that we stop the implementation is going to have a lot of negative contractual issues because the contractors must look for money from both local and international markets to finance the projects,” he said.
“What I can assure you is that there won’t be any evictions in the next three months, we must deal with all these issues that are being raised, I was born a bred in this city and in a government house, I understand how emotional this thing is, and we will deal with all the concerns being raised,” Sakaja pledged.
Sakaja also allayed the fears of the residents of the estates and promised that they would be signing a memorandum of understanding to be given a house once the project is complete for having been loyal to the county over the years.
"I however want to clarify that these will not be free houses. These tenants have been paying rent for 40 or even 50 years. They have been very loyal tenants, from parents to their children; now they will be able to own the houses," he said.