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"id": 776278,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/776278/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Losiakou",
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"speaker": {
"id": 2662,
"legal_name": "Losiakou David Pkosing",
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"content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Sessional Paper came up because, as a Government and the leadership of Jubilee, we want to provide houses to the people of Kenya, but there is a mismatch between our incomes and the cost of housing. Kenyans end up looking and admiring people’s houses. Most Kenyans move around wishing they could own such houses. Most Kenyans only see some good houses in pictures. This Sessional Paper will try to set a policy direction by providing that for us, as a country, we must provide housing for the people of Kenya. There is also need to look at the prices. We need to look at where people will get money. If you look at our future programme within our Committee, namely, the construction of 500,000 houses for the people of Kenya, together with the Ministry, we have been grappling with how we will buy the houses. One side will be to build, that is to supply, but the demand side is to acquire the houses, so that we do not build the houses for no one. That is why this policy Paper is timely. We need to think out of the box or say think without the box. How will people access cheap mortgages? I am happy that Members are supporting the Policy because all of us here are beneficiaries of a relatively cheap mortgage. Let us translate this concept to the people of Kenya through such a policy. That is why institutions that should support mortgage financing are being proposed in this Sessional Paper. If it comes back again as a Bill, I will present it to the House. However, this is the direction we want to go. We are saying, could be, through the National Treasury or the NHC or what is being proposed, there should be a mortgage facility which should be accessible to all Kenyans – not just to Kenyans of higher social class or Kenyans in leadership – so that we can reduce the competition amongst the people wanting to be Members of Parliament. If Kenyans can own houses, we can reduce the competition of everyone wanting to become an MP. Then we can be here for a while and legislate. That is why in this Sessional Paper, we are proposing a cheap mortgage scheme for our people. For the first time in the history of this country, Members have thought about the poor people living in the villages. We are proposing this so that we can achieve not only the goal of building 500,000 houses to one million, but also ensure that people can afford these houses. However, I would like to address something in relation to housing, which calls for leadership. We, in the Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing, foresee a problem when it comes to compensation for land that may be compulsorily acquired. We have noticed this problem whenever the Government wanted to build a road or a dam. Whenever people hear that a road or a railway line is going to pass through a certain area, or that the Government wants to build houses in a particular location, they rush there and buy off the land cheaply. They wait until when the Government comes to buy the land and inflate the price so much that acquisition of such land becomes more expensive than the intended project. We have to ask ourselves as a people, where are we going? The projects being implemented are for the good of the people. Why do we inflate the price of the land being acquired by the Government to an extent that it defeats the purpose of development? I am happy that the Land Value Index Bill is coming to Parliament. It will help us deal with the problems that we are facing as a country. We will be able to curtail the malpractices of members of the middle class, who have money. Whenever they learn that the Government is about to implement a project in a certain area, they rush there and buy off the land. This blocks the Government from implementing projects. That is why we are very concerned as Members of the Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}