By Christopher Omondi
Affordable housing has a lot of skepticism in Kisumu County, just like any other part of the country, since the public has no clear picture of the project, as the government has not done enough to inform the public about the project, and the information available online is not accessible to everyone.
According to the initial government targets when the current regime assumed office in September 2022, the plan was to construct 250 units per year, with 200,000 units from the government and 50,000 units from the private sector, which, in the case of Kisumu’s Makasembo estate, is the Lap fund.
The government is, however, lagging in regards to achieving its target for affordable housing in Kisumu County.
“In Kisumu County, the two notable affordable housing projects include the Lap Fund Makasembo Housing Project, which has had its first phase completed with over 900 housing units ready for occupation, with this being short of the total of 2,000 houses of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom typologies upon completion, this is according to the affordable housing website.
Other sources like the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) have reported different figures further suggesting discrepancies from the affordable housing board, we can’t know for ourselves as the security can’t allow commoners in the building.
The other affordable housing project in Kisumu County is the Lumumba Estate Housing Project, which, despite not being completed, has had the government spend over KSHS 5 billion on the construction of 2,384 affordable housing units, which is already racing towards time, as it was anticipated to be completed by January 2026. This brings us to question one what is stalling these projects? And two, why is the government not achieving the promised number of units?” This is according to Moses Juma.
The roll-out of the houses to the occupants has not been successful in Kisumu County, with most residents suggesting a lack of inclusivity, as some elderly people can’t access the internet for the affordable housing portal, while also some young people have raised complaints over discrimination when seeking information at the Makasembo Housing estate by the management or security.
‘’The affordable housing project is good, but it lacked one essential of the constitution, which is public participation, and many stages of the project failed to do so, starting with the housing levy deductions that have left many, especially those in employment like me, feeling we lost money over courses we were not sure of, some of the houses are also used as gifts to athletes as we recently saw the President award footballers during the CHAN competitions or even teachers in the statehouse meeting further exposing discrepancies over the roll-out, where as the public don’t have enough information a situation that has left the completed units at Makasembo un occupied as many don’t know whether they are completed or not.” This is according to Mercy Achieng.
