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{
    "id": 777289,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777289/?format=api",
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    "content": "As such, it is imperative that they have access to the basic things such as clean water and proper sanitation systems. As we think about how to improve this by providing basic necessities to our brothers and sisters who live in the slums, we should set up a proper legal framework that will recognise their needs and the importance of them being fully accorded with everything that they need in order to make a good living. As I support the adoption of this policy paper, I would like us to concentrate on the need to devolve more funds to the county governments. If we do not devolve more funds to county governments, then we may never solve this problem. If you ask any Kenyan who lives in the slums of Nairobi where they would love to live, they will tell you that they would like to live back in their rural home. It should not just be that people end up back home in caskets. You should be given an opportunity to choose where you want to live and all services should be accorded to you. Very soon, Nairobi City will end up having more slums than it can manage. In fact, the amount of mushrooming apartments in middle income areas like Kileleshwa will make people leave and go to other areas and that area converted into a “project slum area”, just to give it a fancy name. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I fully support the adoption of this paper but we must ask ourselves what we will do to curb the rural-urban migration. In fact, with the devolved government system, I would have been happy to hear that more counties are setting up areas where they can invite people with brains. You might hate the slums of Nairobi but as my able nominated Senator representing people with special interest said, you will find that the best carpenters in this country live in the slums. It is important for them not just to come to my house to build for me a two hundred thousand shilling dining table and then they end up going back to slums where there are no services. They need basic housing that they can call home and enjoy all the services. With those few remarks, I fully support but encourage the Ministry to consider giving heavy tax incentives to people who can build more affordable housing not only here in Nairobi but also in our 47 counties. If any developer says that they can build houses to be sold at Kshs1 million or Kshs1.5 million, then it would be imperative for the Ministry of Finance to come up with low mortgages as well that people can afford. What happens in this country is a bit different from other countries although we are slowly getting into that system. In other countries, your access to credit is based on your ability to pay whatever you borrow. But in this country, the more money you have or rather your pay slip is what determines how much you can access in terms of credit facilities. The system of financing in this country makes it very difficult for anyone, even a Member of Parliament (MP), to use his or her own pay slip. It might be very difficult for an MP to choose where to live. You will find that most MPs end up living in a place where they can only afford about Kshs20 million mortgage and they will also benefit from the same. So, any developer who comes up and promotes affordable housing, which is similar to slum upgrading, should be given heavy tax incentives. Our financial sector should also consider lowering the mortgage. We get a lot of money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. We should come up with a system that encourages people who earn very The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}