Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticised President William Ruto’s Affordable Housing Programme, arguing that such a project should be managed by county governments.
Speaking at the funeral of Francis Ngaru, the late husband of former Thika Mayor Mumbi Ngaru, Raila reiterated his support for devolution and the need to empower counties further.
“How about Affordable Housing? Let counties build Affordable Housing themselves!” Raila declared.
Ruto’s Affordable Housing Project is a flagship initiative aimed at addressing Kenya’s housing deficit by delivering 200,000 affordable housing units annually, with a cumulative target of one million units by 2027.
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Kenyan government allocated Ksh35.2 billion towards the housing program. Of this, Ksh3.2 billion was specifically designated for the affordable housing initiative, while additional funds were earmarked for social housing and mortgage financing through the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company.
In his tirade, Raila called for greater allocation of the devolved fund from the current 15 per cent to 35 to 40 per cent, arguing the current amounts are not enough for governors to spur development.
Raila also demanded that the government keep off county roads, further calling for the abolishment of the Kenya Urban Rural Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
“Roads are also devolved. You do not need KURA and KERRA, have only KeNHA (Kenya National Highways Authority) in the national government dealing with international highways, national trunk roads and feeder roads,” he averred.
On the issue of roads, the former Prime Minister insisted that Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who was present at the event, should only be brought under scrutiny if the devolved function is allowed to work.
“If we let devolution work and increase the allocation to the devolved fund, then we can blame the governors if they are not working. But you can not blame Governor Sakaja for roads in Nairobi, which are not under his jurisdiction,” Raila asserted.
Raila has in the past voiced his unwavering support for devolution, continuously hitting out at any attempt to impede devolution in counties.
He has gone as far as warning lawmakers from the Orange Democratic Movement and interested hopefuls that party elections would take into account one’s stand on certain devolved functions.
