Probably the reason they are selling the so-called affordable houses instead of renting them is because they know they will be poorly managed. When you are renting to own, you can’t move even if the conditions are deplorable.
Management of such densely populated housing schemes can be quite challenging. Issues like sanitation/waste management, water supply, noise regulation, security, rogue neighbours, cleaning of shared spaces, lifts etc. can be a challenge.
Some of the affordable houses which were built in the past have experienced poor management, resulting in issues like insufficient water supply. The owner-tenants are stuck there with no option of moving out.
If the houses were rented, management would be forced to take better care as tenants can move out whenever they wish. This is a critical consideration when purchasing these houses. One must be convinced that they will be properly managed.
The government should ensure that the sectional property laws are properly followed. The owners must be the ones to manage these houses through a collectively owned and managed company. The service fees being charged must be managed and accounted for by the owners.
In this country, we are facing a crisis of small-mindedness. As I have said many times, when a nation lacks imagination, it turns into a stagnation. We are actually turning into a regression.
Some people want to turn the affordable housing project into a religion that shouldn’t be questioned. Anyone criticising the project is being accused of being bitter that slum dwellers now live in brick high rises. What moronic reasoning is this?
We are being told to praise the government for building bedsitters for families. The Mukuru bedsitters that were launched yesterday can’t be described as decent housing by any sane person.
Such bedsitters can only be decent houses if they are single occupier units. Putting a family of 4 or even 5 people in such a house is a crime against humanity. Just because people were living in a slum doesn’t mean they have no dignity or rights.
The government thinks that housing is just about having a room to live in. This is just simplistic and politically opportunistic thinking. The people presenting themselves as slum Messiahs are just political predators exploiting poverty in the country.
One of the reasons why people live in slums is not just about rooms, but also the cost of food and utilities. We are told that the bedsitter will cost KSh 3,900 per month, but no one talks about the cost of utilities such as water, gas and electricity. In the slums, you have lots of options for meeting these needs in line with the depressed incomes.
Those utilities could drive the cost up to over KSh 6,000 per month. Will the government subsidise this? How many of those saved from the slums can afford such expenses? How many slumdwellers will afford the KSh 5,300 per month for a 1-bedroom house and KSh 6,800 per month for a 2-bedroom house, excluding utilities?
Bedsitters are transitional houses for people starting out in life. Selling them under a 30-year mortgage arrangement makes no sense. Are we assuming that these people are condemned to lifetime poverty? Have we given up hopes for growing the economy, creating jobs and accelerating upward mobility?
We are told that former renters have turned into owners. Did they receive title deeds for the units? What happens if one can’t afford the monthly payments? Remember, a law is also being passed that will ensure the defaulters are kicked out as fast as possible.
The government promised to build 200,000 houses each year. The Mukuru project started in 2022. It has taken 3 years to complete 1,080 houses. These are just 0.54% of the promised houses per year. Why celebrate such mediocrity?
The UDA regime is just exploiting the crisis of urban housing for political capital. There is no intention to address the problem. Why deduct billions and invest them in government securities yet you could lend that money out to the private sector to construct the houses?
We won’t make any progress if we continue praising politicians for mediocre performance. Praising a politician for a development project is no wiser than thanking an ATM for giving you cash. These political predators preying on the pain of slumdwellers should be called out and condemned by all right-thinking Kenyans. This is cruelty and insensitivity of the highest order.
