Ruto takes housing gospel to international meeting

He said that in his bottom-up economic plan, every Kenyan will be able to sustain themselves and rise.

Piece by: Manny Anyango
News

• The President also announced that more than half of Kenya’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. 

President William Ruto
Image: COURTESY

President William Ruto has said that in order for slum dwellers to have upgraded living conditions, sacrifices must be made. 

Speaking during the official opening of the Second Session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly in Gigiri, the head of state said that had the freedom fighters not made a sacrifice of fighting for the independence of Kenya, citizens would still be slaves. 

"If our freedom fighters had asked themselves, how is it their business to go and fight for the freedom of the whole country, we would still be slaves. They made a sacrifice to liberate us, we need to make a sacrifice to liberate people from the slums," he said. 

He said that in his bottom-up economic plan, every Kenyan will be able to sustain themselves and rise. 

"We need to liberate people living at the bottom of the pyramid."

The President also announced that more than half of Kenya’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. 

"We have integrated universal housing as a critical pillar of the national bottom-up economic transformation agenda," he said. 

Ruto said his administration has further mainstreamed sustainable urban practices of green building, green spaces, adoption of low-carbon energy use, including low-carbon transport solutions, as well as urban agriculture and effective waste management.

The president made the statement in regards to the Affordable Housing programme levy, which he announced in May that it will be a mandatory contribution. 

“As a government, we will take the lead, all civil servants who will pay three per cent to the Housing Fund we will pay another three per cent every month so that we can create a fund that will assist the people of Kenya to acquire homes.”

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