NAIROBI — President William Ruto has announced that a fifth of all houses under Kenya’s affordable housing scheme will be set aside for the country’s uniformed forces a move he said is meant to honour and support those who serve on the front line.
Speaking on Sunday during the 62nd Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, President Ruto said the allocation would benefit members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National Police Service, and prison officers.
“These men and women carry the burden of our safety,” the president said. “The least we can do is ensure they have a decent place to call home.”
According to the president, the housing scheme will ringfence 20 percent of all completed units for officers in these services. He said it was part of a broader plan to improve the welfare of state employees who often live in cramped, government-owned housing or rely on allowances to rent in expensive cities.
The government’s affordable housing programme is one of Ruto’s flagship projects. Aimed at narrowing the country’s deep housing gap, it targets low and middle-income earners with units priced well below market rates.
Critics, however, have raised questions about who is really benefiting from the programme. Some have argued that many units remain unaffordable to ordinary Kenyans and that the scheme has lacked transparency. Others have accused the government of pushing the programme too aggressively, especially in urban areas where demolitions have displaced informal settlers.
Still, the administration insists the housing push will boost jobs, reduce slums and expand access to home ownership.
Sunday’s announcement drew mixed reactions.
Civil service unions welcomed the move. A spokesman for the Kenya Police Union, speaking shortly after the announcement, said the decision was “long overdue.”
“Our members put their lives on the line. Many live in degrading conditions,” he said. “This will go a long way in restoring their dignity.”
But housing advocates cautioned against singling out one group for preferential treatment without clear guidelines. “Every Kenyan deserves a fair shot at housing,” said Faith Maina, a Nairobi-based urban planner. “The government must balance gratitude with equity.”
Ruto, responding to growing scrutiny over the pace of construction and funding of the housing scheme, defended the programme’s direction.
“The promise of Madaraka was freedom not just from colonial rule, but from indignity from poverty, from poor housing,” he said. “We are simply fulfilling that promise.”
In a nod to Kenya’s broader national security priorities, the president said the welfare of service members must go hand in hand with reforms aimed at professionalising and modernising the armed forces and police service.
“Security begins with stability not just in the country, but at home,” he said.
Construction under the Affordable Housing Programme is currently ongoing in all 47 counties. According to government data, at least 46,000 units are at various stages of completion. It remains to be seen how the 20 percent quota will be enforced and whether it will be formalised in law or policy.
For now, the president’s message was clear: those who defend Kenya should not be left behind in its growth.
