Shitanda fights back in home deals saga

• An audit report revealed that senior officials got houses at the expense of ordinary Kenyans

The minister for Housing on Sunday explained the allocation of houses built by a State corporation, saying no subsidies were given to government officials.

Mr Soita Shitanda gave the clarification as acting Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia denied that he was allocated a National Housing Corporation (NHC) house in Kileleshwa estate in Nairobi.

Mr Shitanda clarified that NHC did not sell houses at a lower subsidised price than private realtors because the government stopped funding the corporation.

He further explained that the houses in Kileleshwa- listed as having been taken by top government officials- were sold like any other private property because they were built from bank loans.

The minister denied any illegality in the disposal of the houses.

He was reacting to a move by Youth Platform for Change to go to court challenging the allocation of houses.

The lobby yesterday said they would go to court to seek the interpretation of Kenyans’ right to housing and access to information and a clarification to clear the air on whether NHC ignored ordinary Kenyans and preferred top government officials.

In an earlier report published in the Sunday Nation, lawyer Antony Oluoch argued that NHC had not published all the names of those who benefited from the housing schemes, contrary to Article 35 of the Constitution on the right to access information.

The corporation has been thrown into controversy after an audit report revealed that some of its apartments in Nairobi were allotted to senior civil servants and politicians at the expense of ordinary Kenyans who had applied.

Investigations revealed that top officials were offered houses even without applying. Other than Mr Kimemia, PS Mohamed Isahakia was also allocated a house.