Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o has appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene in a Sh1billion housing dispute between the devolved government and the National Housing Corporation (UHC). – By Ramadhan Kambi.
At the center of the dispute is the more than a billion debt that NHC claims to recover from the Kisumu County government.
Speaking on the sidelines of the just-concluded governors’ conference on Universal health care in Mombasa, Governor Nyong’o said it was more important for to provide affordable housing for its people than for NHC to make more out of mistakes committed by itself and the defunct municipal council of Kisumu.
“I would like to appeal to the President to come to our help by writing off the so called debt that NHC, like shylock is claiming from us,” said Prof Nyong’o.
He said that over the last two years, the Kisumu county government has been struggling to implement affordable housing in Kisumu by undertaking an urban renewal program, which includes building new and affordable houses for the people.
“Unfortunately, we have come across tremendous roadblocks created by the NHC which has been collecting rent from these houses over 10 years as a result of previous agreements with the defunct municipal council of Kisumu.”
“The Houses under discussion were developed by the municipal council using a loan from NHC. The municipal defaulted on paying the loans hence handed over the houses to NHC to collect rent and pay themselves until the debt is fully recovered,” said the Governor.
He further said in a statement that unfortunately, NHC has been inefficient in collecting rent over the years and not even raising the rents with respect to the County government Finance Act since 2013.
“In the meantime, LAPFUND has reached an agreement with us to build affordable modern houses for our people in Makasembo Estate, currently being mismanaged by NHC. We agreed with NHC that we shall pay them the nearly one billion shillings they are claiming from us so as to vacate Makasembo Estate for the development of affordable housing by LAPFUND.
LAPFUND is currently in Kisumu to begin a discussion with Makasembo tenants but NHC has put yet another roadblock on our way by inciting the tenants to withdraw from discussions. It has also come to our attention that some officials at the NHC have personal interests in the said estate and are not prepared to see the development of affordable housing in Makasembo,” he said in the statement to journalists.
