•Plans are also underway to put up some 200,000 housing units across the country, a move that will create 1.8 million jobs.
•Already, 1,370 units have been completed in Park Road and are occupied, with some 1,600 units 80 per cent complete in the Pangani project.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
The development of affordable housing within Kibra’s Nubian 288 acres of community land is expected to proceed soon following the appointment of a task force.
Land, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary Zachariah Njeru appointed the 39-member task force in a gazette notice No 1415 dated February 6.
The task force is composed of community representatives, quantity surveyors, representatives from the housing and lands ministry, urban planners, representatives from the attorney general’s office, legal experts and land administrators, among others.
It will be chaired by Ahmed Yakub (community representative) while both Said Athman (quantity surveyor) and George Arwa (director, survey) will be vice chairpersons.
“The objective of the task force shall be to assess and propose practical strategies for the redevelopment and construction of affordable housing on the two hundred and eighty-eight (288) acres of land in Kibra allocated to the Kibra Nubian Community Land Trust by the Government of Kenya on October 9, 2023, and handed over to members of the Kibra Nubian Community on the 2nd June 2017,” Njeru said in the notice.
The state has rolled out the implementation of affordable housing with a view of bridging the deficit.
Plans are also underway to put up some 200,000 housing units across the country, a move that will create 1.8 million jobs.
The government aims to deliver housing on ownership terms for citizens. The ambition is to move from 30,000 mortgages to 1,000,000 mortgages with favourable terms with monthly payments as low as Sh5, 000.
With only 50,000 new housing units supplied every year, Kenya faces a shortage of about two million housing units.
Most of the housing units are built by the private sector, with 80 per cent targeting the high-end market and only two per cent for the middle-income population.
The state wants to change this trend.
Already, 1,370 units have been completed in Park Road and are occupied, with some 1,600 units 80 per cent complete in the Pangani project.
On January 27, President William Ruto presided over the ground-breaking of the Shauri Moyo affordable housing project in Nairobi.
Already, President Ruto has commissioned AHPs in Mukuru Met Site and Kibera in Soweto B.
The Sh10 billion Shauri Moyo project will provide more than 3,000 housing units.
In November last year, Ruto announced that 3,000 acres of Nairobi public land will be used for the affordable housing programme.
He said his administration would prioritise the project to provide residents with affordable homes.
“We are going to work with the Nairobi county government and all the other agencies so with these 3,000 acres, we can at least do 400,000 to 500,000 housing units that will support the people of Nairobi, as we do it elsewhere,” the President said.
Njeru said the affordable houses being developed in Nubia land will be handed over in a manner that ensures that the community members get value for money and preserves wealth for future generations of community members by unleashing the potential of the land.
He said Halal City modeled on Islamic culture and tradition and has the hallmarks of a modern, smart and sustainable city with related infrastructure and facilities will be developed.
The terms of reference of the task force will be to review the milestones achieved regarding the land by the Trust including the declaration of land as a Special Planning Area, the existing draft Master Plan, and partial infrastructure development.
It will also make recommendations on the guidelines and framework related to the Master Plan; propose strategies for Community buy-in of the Master Plan through sensitisation, awareness-creation and stakeholder engagement.
The task force will also propose a comprehensive project development strategy including a suitable financing structure that will deliver the proposed development in line with the aims, purposes and objectives of the Trust with respect to the land.
It will also propose appropriate financing infrastructure for the project including a tenant purchase scheme structure that can cater to homeowners at various income levels; propose a suitable public information and sensitisation programme to generate public participation and create awareness on the project, its aims and objectives, and its progress over time.
The task force will submit to the CS an interim report detailing the tasks methodology or execution and work plan guiding the process and schedule of engagement with stakeholders; an interim report of the reviewed information views from stakeholders, and gaps, if any, to be addressed.
The other report that will be submitted to the CS by the task force is a complete report detailing the tasks undertaken, challenges and opportunities and next steps.
The task force shall serve for a term of nine months and its secretariat will be based at the State Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The performance of its functions, task force may co-opt technical experts, who shall consist of not more than two-thirds of the members of the task force, to assist in the performance of its functions.
The cost incurred by the task force in the performance of its functions will be defrayed from the voted funds of the State Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)