Nyandarua County signs 10,000 houses deal with State

The county government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the national government to build 10,000 houses in the next five years.

According to Governor Francis Kimemia, 2,000 houses will be constructed across the county annually for the next five years under the World Bank-supported Kenya Urban Support Programme.

“Ol Kalou, Njabini, Engineer, Ndaragwa, Mairo Inya, Miharati and Ol Joro Orok are among towns in that will benefit from this programme. The idea is to give major towns in each sub-county an urban feel,” said Mr Kimemia.

URBAN PLANNING

Under the agreement, Nyandarua will get support in urban planning, skills transfer, and attraction of investors, infrastructure and urban development. 

The houses will target residents who earn between Sh15,000 and Sh50,000 per month, while social housing will target those earning below Sh15,000 per month. 

A joint technical committee comprising three members each from the county and national governments will be formed to implement the MoU. 

Kimemia said the programme was timely and described the towns as engines of development.

“They serve as administrative and security provision centres as well as main social and cultural delivery points,” he said.

The governor said in the past 10 years, there had been increased movement of people from Nyandarua’s rural areas to its few urban centres, which was straining many of the towns' facilities. 

Governor Kimemia said lack of zoning and regulation guidelines, encroachment on public utilities and land sub-division had left the county’s urban centres unable to attract sustainable investments in housing and light industries.

“Therefore, any support in ensuring that our urban centres expand through well-co-ordinated planning is most welcome,” he said.

County Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development Executive Lawrence Mukundi said in addition to solid waste management systems, the identified towns would also benefit from bus parks and fire-fighting equipment.

“We owe this to our compliance with the requirements for participating in the Kenya Urban Support Programme,” he said. 

PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT

In meeting the programme requirements, the county government signed a participation agreement and prepared a draft County Urban Institutional Development Strategy, which was included in the second County Integrated Development Plan (2018-2022) for approval by the county assembly.

National Housing Corporation and the county government have previously worked together on a feasibility study for housing in Ol Kalou.

Unlike other regional headquarters in Kenya, Ol Kalou is still building its infrastructure, with most county workers currently living in neighbouring counties.