Draft Policy on Housing for Kisumu County has been developed.

 The Acting Chief Officerfor lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development in Kisumu County Steve Gome{L}address the media in Kisumu where he said a robust housing draft policy has been developed for Kisumu County.It will help in addressing the issue of adequate and affordable housing-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

By Dickson Odhiambo.

March 16, 2019.

Draft Policy on Housing  for Kisumu County has been developed.

A ROBUST Housing Policy draft document has been developed for the entire Kisumu County, a Chief Officer at the County Government of Kisumu has said. 

Acting Chief Officer for lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development at the County Government of Kisumu Steve Gome says the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Program through the World Bank has supported the County Government of Kisumu to develop the draft on Housing Policy for Kisumu.

Addressing the press during a meeting with stakeholders from the various informal settlement in Kisumu on the issue of adequate and affordable Housing and the forthcoming International Conference on Affordable Housing to be held in Kisumu City as from next week on Tuesday, Gome said initially the Housing Policy for Kisumu was meant to be for Kisumu City only but has since been expanded throughout the county.

Gome says the Housing Policy draft has been expanded throughout the county because Housing could be looked at holistically throughout the county.

“Initially, this program was meant for Kisumu City or the Urban areas only but it has been expanded throughout the county because housing could be looked throughout the county holistically,” Gome says.

The Chief Officer says the draft policy will be handed over to Kisumu Governor Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o next week either on March 18 or 19 ahead of the international conference on adequate and affordable Housing.

Gome says some of the proposals in the draft will be discussed during the forthcoming International Conference on Adequate and Affordable Housing schedule next week in Kisumu.

The Chief Officer says one of the issue that has come up strongly in the draft is the proposed establishment of the Housing Fund at the county level.

“This means that once this draft policy will be passed and become an Act, the county government through the Housing fund will now be able to attract development partners to put some seed money into it and also compel the county Government to actually do actual budget every fiscal year, something that can be placed in the Kitty for Housing Development,” Gome adds.

He further says the monies that may come into the Housing Fund may not be enough to do the number of Houses the county Government needs hence the need to in cooperate other stakeholders.

Gome says another proposal is that once this money is put into the kitty, then it can be advanced into Housing Cooperatives or communities that do self-upgrading housing within the informal settlements.

“We cannot say that we can go to an area for example like Obunga and we are going to do ten thousand houses for the residents there but there are people and organizations in the community you are living in which can handle this fund and do your own buildings or improved housing according to what you want the community to have,” Gome further says.

He adds there is also the issue of ongoing detailed physical planning of Kisumu City which has identified out the informal settlements as one of the key planning areas they are working on.

Gome adds that currently the Governor of Kisumu has put freeze on all development in the city so as to allow the detailed physical to be done successfully and development will be resumed once it is over.

“In the informal areas which contains many people in our urban areas, those doing the work on the detailed physical planning in consultation with the people living there will be developing the prototypes which contains the kind of houses needed there while considering the level of access, income and infrastructure in the area,” the Chief Officer said.

The Chief Officer further say already under a National Government Program known as KISIP and the Kisumu Urban Project has for the last one year been able to improve the access roads, putting sewerage lines as well as putting street lighting which has helped in improve access and security in the informal settlement like Bandani, Obunga and Nyalenda areas.

He says the second phase of Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Program {KISIP} which is a national Government program will kick off in November this year once the National Government finishes doing procurement.

 He adds that this will target the areas like Nyawita, Migosi, Manyatta and Kiboswa areas about 11 informal settlements in Kisumu.

He says this will greatly help in improving the issue of adequate and affordable Housing and the County Government will tap into this.

The Chief Officer has hinted that the County Government has plans to do 10,000 housing units in Kisumu County as envisaged in the Governor’s manifesto, adding that there are arrangement to start improving houses within the former Municipality Estates as well as building others within other urban areas.

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