REPUBLIC OF KENYA
MINISTRY OF LAND, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
SPEECH BY FRED MATIANG’I PhD, AG.CABINET SECRETARY
FOR LAND, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT,
DURING THE LAUNCH OF THE CIVIL SERVANTS
TENANT PURCHASE HOUSING SCHEME PROJECT AT
SHAURI MOYO, KISUMU ON FRIDAY, 3RD JULY, 2015
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H. E. Jack Ngaruma, Governor, Kisumu County,
Mariamu elMaawy, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Land, Housing
& Urban Development,
Hon. Ken Obura, area Member of Parliament,
Mr. Erastus Ekidor, County Commissioner,
Mr. Sammy Chepkwony, Chaiman, National Housing Corporation,
Ms. Abigail Mbagaya, Vice Chair, National Land Commission,
Eng. Henry Maina, Ag. Managing Director, National Housing Corporation,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I am glad to be here today for a ground breaking ceremony which will pave way for the
development of the Shauri Moyo Civil Servants Tenant Purchase Housing Scheme in
Kisumu. This is the first housing construction project to be undertaken by the Civil
Servants Housing Scheme outside Nairobi County.
This project comprises a total of 250 housing units, covering a total area of about 2.85
acres. The block of flats rise upto five (5) storeys with adequate infrastructural facilities,
play areas and recreational facilities. The project also consists of construction of
underground water storage tanks and ample parking areas.
The project is expected to cost Kshs. 748 million.
I would like to advice the contractor
and his team to proceed diligently with the contract, observing good workmanship and
implementation speed in accordance with the contract.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On completion, the houses will be sold on a tenant purchase basis with a maximum
repayment period of 25 years. Some of the houses will be available for rental purposes
and priority will be given to those Civil Servants who were relocated to pave way for
this project.
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The Government is committed to realizing well-planned and maintained housing with
necessary supportive infrastructure and social amenities for all Kenyans. The
Government also recognizes that housing development is not only a social
responsibility but also an investment opportunity that contributes both directly and
indirectly to employment and income generation, improved health and increased
labour productivity. The constitution of Kenya 2010 under section 43(b) guarantees
every citizen the right to accessible and adequate housing including reasonable
standards of sanitation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Ministry has formulated various Bills and Policies including National Housing Bill,
Built Environment Bill and has reviewed National Housing Policy to be in tandem with
the provisions of the Constitution. These Policies and Legislations intend to streamline
the coordination and facilitation of housing development as well as to regulate and
standardize the sector in order to provide a safe and healthy environment.
My Ministry is committed to implementing the Civil Servants Housing Scheme as well as
other initiatives such as social housing, Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme, Kenya
Informal Settlements Programme, Infrastructure, National Police and Kenya Prisons
Services housing. Under the Kenya Slum Upgrading programme, we are implementing
housing and critical social and physical infrastructure projects.
The Kibera Slum
Upgrading project, Soweto East Zone ‘A’ is nearing completion where out of the 812
housing units, 624 are completed and another 188 units will be completed shortly. These
houses will soon be handed over to the beneficiaries. The Mavoko sustainable
neighbourhood programme which comprises construction of 405 mixed housing units is
also underway and progressing well. Other projects include provision of physical and
social infrastructural in Malindi, Webuye, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Meru among
others.
The projects objective is provision of sewer, access roads, schools, commercial centres,
sanitation and water in order to improve the lives of people living in slums and informal
settlements.
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In Kisumu, we will soon commence construction of roads, drainage, installation of high
level mast flood lights, sewer, water and sanitation in Bandani, Manyatta Arabs,
Nyalenda and Obuga informal settlements at a total cost of Ksh.1.2 billion. This is being
done through Kenya Informal Settlements Infrastructure Programme (KISIP) in
partnership with World Bank.
The National Housing Corporation (NHC), a state corporation within the Ministry has
also commenced construction of 700 housing units in two phases where Phase I
comprises 100 units while phase II has 600 units in Kanyakwar, Kisumu County at a total
cost of Kshs.2.6 billion.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, the Civil Servants Housing Scheme Fund (CSHSF) is an initiative by
the government to facilitate its employees to access and own houses, thus improving
their welfare.
The initiative is in line with the government policy on housing that stipulates that all
employers should facilitate their employees to own houses.
Through this Fund the government seeks to:
 Provide housing loan facilities for either purchasing or constructing a residential
house with a low lending rate of 5 per cent;
 Develop housing units for sale and rental by civil servants and
 Raise funds which will be used to continue development of more housing units.
Under the Civil Servants Housing Fund, phase I of housing construction commenced in
Nairobi where 1200 housing units have been constructed for rental and others sold to
civil servants. We have also facilitated civil servants to purchase houses that were
offered for sale by National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and National Housing
Corporation (NHC) and other civil servants have been given loans to purchase or
construct houses.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
The demand for housing by Civil Servants is high. This can only be met through Public
Private Partnership arrangements where the government provides the land while
private sector mobilizes funds and construction technology.
To this end, we have
identified Park road, Shauri moyo and Starehe old government estates in Nairobi
County which were built in 1924 by the colonial government for housing development
under this arrangement.
The design for these projects incorporates integrated
developments that will consist of one, two and three bedroom housing units and
commercial centres with shopping, offices and sporting facilities. The projects will
consist of 10,000 housing units and will be affordable to all civil servants.
Housing development on PPP arrangement will go a long way to address the housing
deficit experienced in our country as the government will be able to tap into the
financial resources and competencies of the private sector.
I note that the National and County governments own old housing stock in prime and
sparsely developed neigbourhoods. These neighbourhoods should be redeveloped to
high and medium density housing to match the planning regulations. This is how it has
been done in this project being launched today in Kisumu and other stakeholders are
encouraged to do the same.
In conclusion, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to thank the County Government of Kisumu for according the Ministry total
support towards implementation of this project and the National Land Commission for
striving to ensure that all illegally alienated land is repossessed.
I also wish to thank civil servants for their continued support to the scheme. I promise
them that the ministry will do everything possible to satisfy their dreams of owning a
retirement home.
THANK YOU
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