Public housing programmes should facilitate getting of affordable and decent houses
Mombasa residents outside the Mombasa Law Courts after the hearing of a case at the High Court in the county in which they are seeking to have the Mombasa County Government allow public participation before it starts a housing project. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
There are many initiatives in Kenya that illustrate how low-income earners can still become home owners.
The mistakes of Mombasa are being replicated elsewhere and still the poor live in dehumanising conditions and governments ignore their plight at their peril.
Mombasa may be the holiday capital of Kenya but 65 per cent of its citizens live in densely populated informal settlements. In other words, 700,000 lack security of tenure and may face eviction at any time. To compound matters, the constant threat of evictions has prevented many from investing in home improvements that would make their existence a little more comfortable and secure.
Any initiative to construct new affordable housing or to renovate existing structures would be welcome as would any move to regularise titles for vulnerable communities. Early this year, Governor Ali Hassan Joho announced plans to construct 30,000 units in a public private partnership to improve living standards in the city. The architect’s model of the new estates even caught President Uhuru Kenyatta’s eye at the recent Agricultural Society of Kenya’s Mombasa International Show. Glossy brochures have made the project very attractive, futuristic and progressive.
NEW HOUSES
The county intends to demolish all the 3,100 current government houses and construct the 30,000 new ones on the same land. Existing tenants will be relocated while the new units are constructed. Tenants will also be guaranteed occupancy of the new units with the option of renting, leasing or purchasing outright. So far so good but the devil, as always, is in the detail. The companies that secure the tender to build the homes are guaranteed ownership of 80 per cent of the units. The balance of 6,000 will remain with the county government to rent or lease as it deems necessary. However, those who purchase units will be given titles. Put another way, public land and public housing is being privatised illegally at a price that only the rich can afford. The county government has projected that the selling prices will be Sh1.5 million for bedsitters, Sh2m to Sh4m for a one-bedroomed houses, Sh4m to Sh6m for a two-bedroomed houses and Sh6m to Sh9m for three-bedroomed houses. There are also villas at some ungodly price that I won’t burden you with. But those prices are current market rates or even higher so why is the county government getting involved in real estate business?
IT’S UNAFFORDABLE
There is no way that this project can be described as public housing because it’s unaffordable to the common man. It does not meet the threshold of public interest. There is no way that the 700,000 can ever aspire to benefit unless they strike it rich with SportsPesa. So, whose interests does the county government represent? For these and other reasons, Haki Yetu, Transparency International and Kituo cha Sheria have gone to court to get answers. The county government argues that public participation has taken place but this has been confined to the current tenants, many of whom are its employees.
Public participation is just that" participation by the public because public housing is a duty of government. Real estate business is something different. Public housing programmes should facilitate everyone to have access to affordable, decent housing. South Africa has made significant progress in this respect since 1994.
There are also many initiatives in Kenya that illustrate how low-income earners can still become homeowners. The mistakes of Mombasa are being replicated elsewhere and still the poor live in dehumanising conditions and governments ignore their plight at their peril.
@GabrielDolan1
