John Ochieng', a carpenter based in Rongai, headlined President William Ruto's speech during the Mashujaa Day celebrations held at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi on Thursday, October 20.
In his address, Ruto recognised Ochieng' whom he personally invited to the celebrations, as an example of the transformational affordable housing plan.
He termed John as a hard-working Kenyan, who took advantage of the job opportunities provided by a project to become a homeowner.
"When I handed over keys to homeowners under the affordable housing scheme, I met, Ochieng, a carpenter who had been working on that project when it began.
"Then, home ownership to him was a mere dream but two years down the line, he owns an apartment in the estate he helped to build as a carpenter," Ruto stated.
The head of state noted that Ochieng's story was a manifestation that the government's plan to create more house owners out of the common Kenyan was feasible.
"Given that there are developments today that cater for the housing needs of ordinary Kenyans like John, I am convinced that it is possible to provide quality and affordable housing for rent and sale and his story will be recreated multiple times," he stated.
Ruto reaffirmed that he will be breaking ground on a new social housing project in Kibera's Soweto B estate.
On October 18, Ochieng' disclosed that the developer of the project challenged him to save up and own one of the homes.
"I am a carpenter with no academic qualifications or certification and now I am a proud owner of a two-bedroom house.
"This house has changed my life and that of my family. Thank you for believing in the low-income earners in the community and enabling them to own houses," he stated.
During the event, the president also handed Millicent Adhiambo a brand new car after her a ticket bearing her house number was picked by Ruto during a draw.
In addition, he disclosed that he will work with county governments to achieve a target of at least 5,000 units in all devolved units.
He noted that all the government needed from governors was the allocation of land, stating that it would look for investors and establish the infrastructure in the designated areas.
