President William Ruto has defended his administration’s flagship Affordable Housing Programme, saying the project would not exist if he lacked the courage to implement it.
Speaking on Friday at State House Nairobi during an engagement with graduate interns onboarded under the programme, President Ruto recalled the early opposition the Affordable Housing Programme faced, particularly the deduction housing levy from workers’ salaries.
He blamed what he described as the negative influence of politics on Kenya’s progress, saying it has long held the country back.
“For a long time, politics has sabotaged our country through negativity, by believing in others more than we believe in ourselves and speaking ill of our nation as if nothing good can happen. Let us believe in ourselves. Let us believe in our country, because this country will be transformed by us,” he urged.
Ruto noted that the programme is fully funded locally, with Ksh600 billion in contracts signed with Kenyan companies.
“This is our money. We did not borrow from the IMF or World Bank,” he said.
The head of state hailed the programme for creating employment for hundreds of thousands of Kenyan youth.
He also acknowledged the contributions of Kenyans who supported the housing levy, describing public servants and working citizens as the heroes of the programme while pledging full accountability for every shilling contributed.
“I thank the many people who believed in Kenya, public servants and working Kenyans who contributed to the housing fund. They are the heroes of this programme,” Ruto stated.
“Every cent contributed to the housing fund, I take full responsibility to ensure it is put to good use in developing houses, markets and hostels,” he added.
