Irungu Nyakera: Housing is not priority for most Kenyans
Former Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) Board Chairman Irungu Nyakera has criticised the government’s affordable housing program.
In a statement on X on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Nyakera stated that housing is not a priority for most Kenyans, according to recent studies.
“While UDA’s affordable housing programs aim to address shelter needs, recent surveys indicate that housing is not the priority concern for most citizens. According to a 2024 Afrobarometer survey, the top issues Kenyans want the UDA government to address are health (50%), the increasing cost of living (38%), and unemployment (25%),” the statement in part read.
“Similarly, an InfoTrak poll from December 2024 found that 51% of Kenyans cited the high cost of living as their biggest concern, followed by unemployment at 36%.”
Further, he stated that most Kenyans are affected by economic pressures, access to healthcare and job availability
“But I guess UDA wants to focus on areas that they can easily steal from, as nobody makes money by creating jobs!” he added.
This comes as President William Ruto is expected to officially hand over 1,080 housing units to Mukuru Affordable Housing beneficiaries in Embakasi South on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
Mukuru Affordable Housing
Speaking during the weekly press briefing on Monday, 19, 2025, in Nairobi, the government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura, revealed that the development, which sits on 56 acres of land, is Kenya’s largest affordable housing project to date, featuring a total of 13,248 residential units.
Further, he stated that the housing project will no longer be referred to as Mukuru slums but Mukuru Estate.
“13,248 units are up, and 1,080 people will receive their keys; over 970 of those have been verified, and there are great Kenyans out there who are celebrating,” Mwaura said.
‘Kenyans are invited, at 8:00 am, to be seated so that the President can hand out the keys as we promised to construct over 200,000 units every year in five years so that we are able to shelter over five million Kenyans,” Mwaura said.
Additionally, he stated that the handover marks a major milestone in the government’s Affordable Housing Programme, which is a key pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Mwaura said the housing project is part of the government’s promise of constructing at least 200,000 new houses every year over the next five years to shelter more than five million Kenyans and transform informal settlements into dignified communities.
