Broken promise: Inside collapse of UNOPS Habitat Heights project

When former President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Habitat Heights in 2019. [File, Standard]

In December 2019, a stretch of land in Lukenya was the stage for political fanfare and a flurry of high-stakes promises. Government officials, led by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta, stood alongside United Nations dignitaries and private developers to launch Habitat Heights, an ambitious affordable housing project. The project promised 8,888 modern housing units, envisioned as the first phase of a broader plan to build 100,000 homes across Kenya under the Sustainable Infrastructure Investments and Innovation (S3i) initiative, a global program by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Valued at $647 million, it was presented as a model for public-private development.