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President Ruto to launch ‘biggest’ affordable housing project
President William Ruto with grader operator Patrick Mbindyo during the groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed Shauri Moyo 'A' affordable housing project on January 27, 2023.
President William Ruto is expected to preside over the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of 6,704 affordable housing units in Nairobi’s Starehe area today.
The one, two and three-bedroom units project at a cost of Sh13 billion is a partnership between the State Department for Housing and Urban Development and GulfCap Africa Limited.
The arrangement will see the government provide land while the developer injects capital for the construction of the housing units before selling them to Kenyans at government-approved prices.
Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said that the Starehe housing project will be the biggest to date and will be undertaken in five phases over three years. The completion date is February 2026.
“The development will create a significant number of employment opportunities for the youth and women in the construction industry,” said Mr Hinga, adding that “it will generate over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in other sectors, which will greatly stimulate local economic development.”
GulfCap Africa CEO Chris Ochieng said that the construction works will commence immediately after the ground-breaking ceremony.
“We have a lot to do but we’ll take our time, within the contractual obligations of course, to ensure that we deliver quality houses to the people. Initially, there were ownership issues on the sections of the land, but we managed to resolve them,” said Mr Ochieng.
GulfCap Africa did phase 1 of the Buxton project in Mombasa, which has 584 affordable housing units that are to be handed over to the new owners “in the next few months”.
The Starehe project will sit on two parcels of land totalling about 22.4 acres along Lumbwa street and Meru road, adjacent to Majengo and Gikomba informal settlements. With the commencement date set for March this year.
“The project will be a comprehensive affordable housing development. It will consist of social housing, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units, designed to elevate people’s living standards and livelihoods,” said Mr Hinga.
The developer is also expected to upgrade Ziwani dispensary and a local school.
In line with the government’s commitment to promoting local businesses, doors and windows will be sourced locally.
“The project will dedicate at least Sh0.5 billion of the project value for the local MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), with at least 50 per cent going towards women,” said Mr Hinga.
