NGUMY: Build the economy and Kenyans will construct their own houses

The housing deficit in Kenya stands at two million units and continues to grow at a rate of about 200,000 units a year.

This is closely connected to the proliferation of slums, in which 61 percent of the urban population lives in overcrowded typically one-roomed houses with few or no amenities.
It is also related to employment situation. Of the 19.5 million employable Kenyans, Ministry of Labour statistics show, only about 11.4 have jobs. That means there are 8.1 million unemployed Kenyans, who, because they have no income, cannot afford a house.

The government, under the ‘Big Four’ agenda, proposes to construct “affordable” or “low-cost” houses for citizens. But to unemployed people, there is no affordable house, however cheap. What they need is employment, which can only come about from a robust economy.

They see the proposal as going counter to the ancient wisdom — giving them fish instead of the capacity to fish! They would rather the State improved the economy to create jobs for them.

Those in formal employment oppose the government’s intention to fund the housing programme by imposing a 1.5 percent of their salaries. They say there is no empirical evidence that it is they, and not those in the informal sector, who are in greater need of housing.

Most workers in the formal sector have private arrangements to finance purchase or construction of houses. They do not want, or need, the government to interfere with what they consider private enterprise.

JAMES GICHIA NGUMY, Kiambu.