Regardless of the political clamour attempting to obscure the Affordable Housing Programme, the government is determined to make it a success for future generations.

Speaking during the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, which concludes later today at the UN Headquarters Gigiri in Nairobi, Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development Zachariah Njeru urged Kenyans not to listen to political noise and instead support the government's noble course.

Njeru stated that the moment to act is now because a comparable rate of urban housing and infrastructure development has yet to match Kenya's high urbanization rate of 4.2 per cent per year.

"We cannot bury our heads in the sand," Njeru said. "As the CS in charge of this program, I am assuring Kenyans and the world that in a few years, Kenya will be a success story in how to implement affordable housing schemes, just like Singapore is now."


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Njeru urged his African peers to give metropolitan areas the attention they deserve because their rapid growth has exacerbated global warming through the immediate consumption of fossil fuels.

He pointed out that the urban poor have a low level of resilience in the face of climatic stress, which has interrupted their livelihoods.

According to the CS, Kenya is implementing the Building Climate Resilience for the Urban Poor project as the country's vulnerable urban areas increase.

Kenya has been quickly urbanizing, resulting in an alarming backlog of over 2 million unaffordable and inaccessible houses, with an estimated annual urban housing demand of 250,000 units vs an annual urban supply of 50,000 units that primarily targets the high-end market.

Njeru also stated that the government intends to expand the number of Kenyans with mortgages from less than 30,000 to more than a million.

Njeru also met with counterparts from South Africa, Egypt, Malaysia, Tanzania, Malawi, Qatar, Venezuela, Cameroon, Colombia, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates this week.


The Ministers agreed to collaborate with Kenya on housing and urbanization issues, slum upgrading, and land digitalization.

Cameroon Minister for Housing and Urban Development Celestine Ketcha-Courtes echoed CS Njeru, saying that everyone is responsible for participating in what will be honoured in the future.

"What we plant today will be harvested by our grandchildren." "Let us work together and share ideas for the sake of tomorrow," Ketcha said.

President William Ruto inaugurated the five-day Assembly by emphasizing the importance of financing in the agendas of economic transformation, climate change, and sustainable development.