Principal secretary Charles Hinga has defended President William Ruto's decision to retain him in government after the 2022 polls.
Hinga said the President's decision to retain him as PS for the State Department for Housing and Urban Development was primarily on merit.
Also, on his development track record during his years of service under former president Uhuru Kenyatta's regime.
The PS spoke before the National Assembly Committee on Housing, Urban Planning, and Public Works on Wednesday.
He said he enjoys not only professional competence but also institutional memory of the workings of the critical docket.
"Every Kenyan has a right to live in affordable and decent housing. Kenyans are not living on top of trees or sleeping in open fields but the quality of our people's housing is deplorable. My vision is to make it possible for every Kenyan to live up to that right," Hinga said.
Members of the committee put Hinga to task, on how the Ruto administration would actualise the ambitious pledge to deliver 200,000 affordable housing units every year, given the prevailing economic meltdown.
"When the economy is misbehaving like ours is doing, the worst thing for government to do is to enter into austerity measures. The only person with spending power during an economic meltdown is government," Hinga said.
The PS further said the government should institute austerity measures to cut on wastage to have more funding for critical development areas as housing.
"One sector that can be used to stimulate the economy is housing, because it is labour intensive," he said.
The committee chaired by Emurra Dikirr MP Johannah Ng'eno questioned Hinga on his achievements in the former regime.
Also, on the status of the ambitious affordable housing project launched by Uhuru in 2017 under his Big 4 agenda.
"Under my tenure we brought down the cost of housing by eliminating taxation on the input for construction. We also specifically made land free for construction of houses under the affordable housing project," Hinga said.
The PS said he will work closely with the National Assembly for policy reforms to bring down the cost of mortgages and bring to reality the aspiration of most Kenyans to own decent houses.
