President William Ruto has promised teachers across the country 20 per cent of houses in the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) in Kenya.
Ruto made the promise while addressing over 10,000 teachers during a Walimu na Rais forum at State House, Nairobi, on Saturday, September 13, noting that the pledge would be captured in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The meeting brought together teachers from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), the Kenya Primary School Heads Association (KEPSHA), and other unions to forward their grievances in the education sector.
“Today, we are going to sign, here, an MoU, so that teachers can get 20 per cent of all the housing we are constructing in Kenya,” Ruto announced.
The Affordable Housing Pledge
But how would such a promise be implemented?
The President’s promise must be anchored in law or subsidiary legislation to be enforceable.
Currently, the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) is under the Housing Act (Cap 117) and related regulations (including the Affordable Housing Levy framework).
To reserve 20 per cent of houses for teachers, the State Department for Housing and Urban Development would need to draft a regulation or amend existing ones, specifying a quota for teachers. Alternatively, Parliament could pass a specific amendment or resolution to anchor this allocation in law.
For the MoU, it would likely be signed between the Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Housing/Treasury, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), as the employer and representative of teachers, and possibly KNUT and KUPPET as stakeholders.
Crucially, the MoU can not be treated as law, but it can outline criteria, obligations, and processes such as eligibility, financing, and priority lists. However, for it to hold legally, the MoU needs to be backed by statutory authority, meaning it must be referenced in housing allocation regulations under the Housing Act.
As for its implementation, a quota system would see each housing project under the AHP reserve 20 per cent of units strictly for teachers. However, the TSC would need to provide details of eligible teachers by income level, location, and employment status.
For the allocation, the government would use either balloting as used in current AHP projects or direct allocation for teachers. Even so, teachers would still have to pay through mortgages, SACCOs, or the Boma Yangu portal, as the quota ensures access, not free houses.
Other issues of discussion that were raised by teachers were the teachers’ medical insurance cover, ambiguity on the career progression guidelines, lack of capitation to schools, and the signing of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
If implemented, teachers would follow the disciplined forces who were also allocated 20 percent of Affordable Housing units.
