Why county planning authorities must be involved in affordable housing programme

President William Ruto lays the foundation stone for the Archer's Post Affordable Housing Project in Samburu East Constituency. [PCS]

The Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) remains one of Kenya's most ambitious national development initiatives. Its promise of modern housing, job creation, and improved living standards is compelling. Yet in the Northern Frontier counties, this promise is at risk of collapsing under the weight of procedural violations, legal shortcuts, and a worrying disregard for established land governance laws.

In Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Lamu, Isiolo, Marsabit and Turkana counties, the land tenure system is overwhelmingly community land, held in common by clans and regulated under the Community Land Act, 2016 (CLA). Any attempt to develop large-scale housing without following the due process prescribed by this law is not merely irregular, it is illegal.