State vs private sector: Who should drive affordable housing agenda?

President William Ruto during inspection of the 4,566-unit Shauri Moyo B Affordable Housing Project in Kamukunji constituency, Nairobi. [File, Standard]

For the last 25 years, successive governments have made the provision of affordable housing a key cog in their manifestos, buoyed by grim housing statistics.

At 21.3 per cent, Kenya is among African countries with the lowest home ownership among urban dwellers, while the country has had an annual housing deficit of 200,000 units. On the other hand, developers can only offload 50,000 units to the market.