This archive report was first published on 26 November 2019.
Published on November 26, 2019, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development has begun sending text messages to 270,854 Kenyans who have registered on Boma Yangu, an online portal for the government's affordable housing scheme.
The message invites aspiring homeowners to make payments for housing units via their allocated individual account numbers on the platform via MPesa USSD platform.
According to the text message, "Dear…affordable and decent housing is now within your reach. Start by contributing from as low as Sh200! Update all your personal details by logging in to bomayangu.go.ke or dial 688#! Visit bomayangu.go.ke, hudumakenya.go.ke or your nearest Huduma Centre for more information."
As of last week, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga reported that 14,800 applicants were already making contributions.
PS Hinga revealed that the construction of the first batch of housing units in Nairobi's Ngara Estate was completed and would be issued to at least 60 Kenyans who have paid up 12.5 percent of the total value of the units they are seeking to purchase.
"The houses are complete, I have a completion certificate but the mechanism of transferring them is being finalized to pave way for the sale because we are holding all these houses on one title," said PS Hinga.
