MPs grill Lands CS nominee Zacharia Njeru
When President William Ruto announced his Cabinet nominees, few Kenyans could put a face to the name Zachariah Njeru, picked to head Lands, Housing and Physical Planning.
If he is cleared by the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments after his appearance before it today, he will shoulder the responsibility of steering a key ministry at the centre of Dr Ruto’s vision, including the deferred dream of affordable housing.
Mr Njeru, 56, who calls himself “a real hustler”, grew up in the slums of Kivumbini in Nakuru City and will have the opportunity to demonstrate the Kenya Kwanza commitment to end the slum menace in the country.
The big question he is likely to face is how the Kenya Kwanza government will raise and spend the proposed Sh250 billion to construct 250,000 affordable housing units per annum and grow the number of mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000.
He is also expected to face questions on his plans on rural housing and settlement challenges, including landlessness, insecure land tenure, historical land injustices in Coast region, and encroachment of forest land.
The question of land grabbing is likely to dominate the session, as well as whether the government will implement the Ndung’u Land Report, which names prominent people, some of whom are in the Kenya Kwanza administration, among those who allegedly grabbed sections of Mau Forest and government housing units.
Ordinary Kenyans, whose lands were taken away after the 2007/2008 post-election violence, will likely also want to hear how Mr Njeru will address their plight as some have never gone back to their homes.
See our our other coverage from the CS vetting sessions:
Live updates: Vetting of CS nominees
