This archive report was first published on 15 January 2020.
As the clock ticks down to the 2022 deadline for achieving the Big Four agenda's housing goal, the Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Ministry's performance has been woefully inadequate.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had set out to construct 500,000 affordable housing units in his second term, but with about two and a half years left to meet the target, the ministry has delivered a paltry 228 units.
The completed units are located on Park Road, Ngara in Nairobi, and are part of 1,370 units that were earmarked for construction on the piece of land in Ngara over the 2018/2019 financial year.
China State Construction Engineering was given the contract to put up the units and began works in April, but a majority of the units remain unfinished.
The ministry was also expected to put up another 12,409 houses, but it fell short, delivering only 1,100 units.
The Treasury cited lack of funds, litigation from disgruntled bidders, difficulties in accessing land, and limited local contractor capacity as among the challenges in implementing these and other infrastructure projects.
"The slow implementation of capital projects occasioned by local contractor's capacity inadequacy has gradually culminated in project delays, cost overruns and possible legal and contract challenges arising from arbitration and contractual issues impacting on project implementation," said the Treasury.
The issue of land access has been a major sticking point, stalling various government projects, especially those under the State Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"Acquisition of sites, wayleaves and escalating cost of land acquisition due to speculations, compensation variations between the market value and the local owner's expectations and encroachment of land earmarked for development purpose caused project delays and increased costs of projects," said the Treasury.
It urged government entities responsible for the acquisition of land to fast track the process, including handling litigations and compensation claims on time to avoid cost escalations.
"This will fill the gap left by the government budgetary allocation," said the Treasury, recommending the use of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deal with the challenge of lack of adequate funds.
