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{
    "id": 1367591,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1367591/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 145,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "glaring omissions we noticed was the absence of a Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS) in the sale agreement between the county government and the developer. Many of the residents of Buxton thought that they were being relocated for a brief moment of time and that once the construction of the development was over, they would return to units that have been assigned to them by the county government and continue paying rent in the manner they were paying until the point that rent is sufficient to offset the purchase price of those units. This has not happened. You can see it in the recommendations that the Committee has made. In closing, allow me to highlight some of the recommendations that have been made by the Committee. These are far reaching, especially in the times that we live in when the term affordable housing is involved. Here in Nairobi City County alone, we are re developing 13 of our old council estates. Members of the Committee will bare me witness. We have sworn that what happened in Buxton will never happen in any other estate. This is especially because I am the Senator of Nairobi City County. These are some of the recommendations and I will run through them fast because I know I have limited time. One, the Committee has recommended that all Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) of housing agreements must be made public so that we address the question of non- disclosures of issues that affect Members. Many of the residents of Buxton were getting shocked during the hearings before the Committee that the agreements did not have a TPS clause. We want all the PPPs agreements on housing to be made public to be available to Members of this House and even the National Assembly. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second one is that public participation must be done on every single project and it must involve effectively all the people who reside in the land that is going to be used for that development. I am happy that here in Nairobi City County, I have seen an attempt by the county government to give residents of the estates that are affected an opportunity to speak to the proposed developments. Another key one is that the developer and the County Government of Mombasa must fast track allocation of the houses to those who completed payment. There are people who completed payment for their units and they still do not have those units. More importantly, to the petitioners and the people who missed out on the houses, we have made a recommendation here that the State Department of Housing and County Government of Mombasa must develop a mechanism to ensure the remaining 336 tenants or petitioners acquire units in Buxton through TPS under the National Housing Fund and submit a report to this Committee within 60 days. This is the only way we will ensure the people of Buxton get justice. Finally, we have also made a recommendation that the County Government of Mombasa should allocate its share of 184 units to the former tenants or petitioners immediately. Lastly, arising from finding of the tendering process for redevelopment of other estates in Mombasa County, Mombasa County Government needs to furnish this Committee with a comprehensive report on the status of the tendering process within 14 days. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}