04/01/2026
A bad idea remains a bad idea, even when wrapped in good packaging.
Today, under the so-called Affordable Housing Programme, I challenge anyone — government included — to name one Kenyan whose housing has actually become affordable because of it.
The government promised to build 200,000 housing units per year. Three years later, only about 2,100 units have been completed.
In the same period, the government has been collecting a 1.5% housing levy from employees and an additional 1.5% from employers, cumulatively raising about KSh 120 billion, with roughly KSh 90 billion reportedly spent. Yet after all this money and all these years, there are only about 2,000 completed houses to show for it.
Instead of housing becoming more affordable, it has become more unaffordable. The levy has reduced employees’ disposable income, making it harder — not easier — for workers to save, rent, or qualify for mortgages.
To make matters worse, the so-called affordable houses are priced at between KSh 2 million and KSh 4.5 million, placing them far beyond the reach of the majority of Kenyans, especially low-income earners and those in the informal sector.
So the question remains simple and fair:
Is there even one Kenyan whose housing problem has become more affordable to solve because of the Affordable Housing Programme?
Until that question can be answered with a real name, a real house, and real numbers, the programme remains a promise without proof.
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