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{
    "id": 241938,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/241938/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 248,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Shitanda",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Housing",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 207,
        "legal_name": "Peter Soita Shitanda",
        "slug": "soita-shitanda"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. First, I would like to thank the Mover of this Motion and state that as Government, we really appreciate the concerns that have been raised by the contributors to this Motion, which seeks to provide housing to most Kenyans. The housing sector has been neglected for a very long time. We all realise that the National Housing Policy that guided the housing sector up to 2004 was crafted in 1966/67. This gave the housing sector very little attention. Since 2003, when this Government came to power, housing issues have been addressed in many ways. The first thing was the tabling of a Sessional Paper on housing in this House in 2004. That National Housing Policy Sessional Paper has captured most of the concerns that have been raised by the hon. Members who have contributed to this Motion. It has made several provisions which can be used in trying to provide affordable housing for Kenyans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that owning a house in urban areas is not affordable by most Kenyans, including the employed and those with middle level incomes. In some cases, the high income bracket earners are also unable to access affordable housing. We have a draft housing Bill which seeks to put into law what the National Housing Policy has recommended. One of the key areas that this Bill is focusing on is the area of how to provide affordable housing to Kenyans. In that direction, we already have a Civil Servants' Housing fund within my Ministry. This fund enables civil servants acquire houses at affordable rates. The fund has enabled more than 1,000 civil servants to purchase houses in Nairobi at very affordable rates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fund is also in the process of creating regulations to enable civil servants not just to acquire the houses they are living in, but also access loans from it and buy houses from the open market."
}