President William Ruto on Monday promised to construct 40,000 affordable houses to help settle families that were moved from riparian reserves in Nairobi County.
Ruto, while speaking in Kibra during an inspection tour of the housing construction projects, revealed that the houses will be used by the citizens contrary to the reports that they were not set to benefit from the housing project.
According to the Head of State, the government will construct the 40,000 units with an intention of settling those who were displaced by the government-led demolitions targeting those who were staying along the river banks.
‘’Here in Nairobi, we are soon announcing the construction of 40,000 units to help settle those who were displaced by the government from the flood risk areas,’’ Ruto stated.
This comes in the wake of recent stories that have been aired on various media outlets highlighting the cries of the demolition victims who told journalists that months after they were displaced, they were still neglected and forced to be sleeping in the cold.
The victims, many of them aged citizens, revealed that the government incentive of Ksh10,000 that was to help them seek alternative housing amenities did not reach them.
‘’Ruto should know that Mathare people are also humans. Why should we sleep out as animals?’’ Wanjiru Kirangu, an aged resident, told the media.
The Head of State, without wading into the stalemate, maintained that the government gave the affected victims the Ksh10,000 incentive as promised.
‘’We will give them a settlement just as we had given them an incentive of Ksh10,000 to help them relocate,’’ he argued.
The President also announced an additional 15,000 units to be constructed in Kibra within 90 days, indicating that already the government had sent in enumerators, to count on the number of people who are set to be displaced to create room for the expansion. He revealed that the construction works will begin immediately and the evaluation processes are completed.
Ruto also noted that the projects will employ an additional 15, 000 youths who are set to benefit from employment opportunities as construction workers.
According to Ruto, the affordable housing project will benefit the whole country, noting that 110,000 units were already under construction across the country.