Learn from the past to deliver housing plan

Kenya has a history of several government-initiated housing plans that failed to materialise.

Most recently, in 2017, the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) was birthed. Through this noble idea, the Jubilee administration aimed at building 500,000 affordable homes over five years. That means the programme should have been concluded by the end of last year.

Providing affordable housing is at the focal point of most African governments' policy frameworks. National governments approach this issue differently but most focus on providing affordable shelters to those on the lower rung of the economic ladder through incentives like supply-side subsidies. 

Some governments deliver housing projects directly from government corporations, such as Kenya’s National Housing Corporation (NHC). An example is Botswana. Others offer mortgage liquidity, for example, Nigeria. The progress of these projects is mostly curtailed by assumptions in their implementation road maps.

The Kenya Kwanza government-envisioned Housing Fund is a noble idea that, if prudently managed, can transform the housing landscape. But it has elicited sharp criticism, mostly from trade unions, partly because the government seems to force it down the throats of workers. Due to the dark history of economic fraud, Kenyans are demanding assurance that the process will be transparent and accountable.

First, the government must learn from the pitfalls of previous attempts. For instance, the 2017 programme did not have a judiciously managed construction financing mechanism. Consequently, the developers faced a herculean task in accessing financing, partly due to the high cost of debt and equity. There were no proper risk mitigation mechanisms. 

Views of stakeholders

While attempting to cure this challenge through the housing levy may sound rational, the views of stakeholders ought to have been sought. There are those who have questioned why they have to contribute to this levy yet they have no interest in the scheme. Public participation is necessary for the government to explain itself, especially about how the levy would deliver the ambitious project.

Secondly, it cannot be gainsaid that our nation has always been tightly gripped in the jaws of political gluttony, unbridled corruption and nepotism. As we speak of delivering the thousands of housing units, I am reminded of the fact that the construction of even simple structures such as classrooms has always been curtailed by corruption. The failures of such schemes are mainly traceable to political greed and corruption; for example, Kenya Railways.

Housing projects commissioned by municipalities have registered significant progress compared to the national government’s. An example is Jericho. Otherwise, this mega ambition may end up being a mega failure, just as the past regime hardly managed to build 2,000 units against a target of 5,000.

Mr Onyango is an economist. [email protected].