President William Ruto walked into Mukuru Kwa Njenga on Tuesday morning determined to change the week’s political script.
Flanked by construction workers in hard-hats, the Head of State handed 1,080 families their keys and declared the moment “a special day and the most consequential day in my political career.”
The new tenants are the first beneficiaries of the 56-acre Mukuru Social Housing Project, Kenya’s largest affordable-housing build to date, and the president wasted no time linking the ceremony to his broader battle over the contested housing levy.
A quick look at Mukuru Phase One
- Units delivered: 1,080 out of an eventual 13,428.
- Mix & pricing: 5,616 bedsitters (KSh 640,000), 3,024 one-bedrooms (KSh 960,000) and 4,608 two-bedrooms (≈ KSh 1.28 million). Monthly rent-to-own payments start at roughly KSh 3,900 for studio units and rise to about KSh 21,000 for lower-middle-income apartments.
- Project cost: Government figures put the first two phases at about KSh 7 billion, financed through the Housing Fund and on-site private developers.
President @WilliamsRuto at the New Mukuru Estate:
“This is one of the most consequential days in my political career!” pic.twitter.com/bvJ1dKWYXf
— Hussein Mohamed, MBS. (@HusseinMohamedg) May 20, 2025
Direct construction and supply contracts have already engaged some 4,800 local workers on site, according to State House numbers.
Nationally, the administration insists the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) has generated 200,000 direct jobs since mid-2023 and aims for 500,000 by 2027, although critics say the tally is fuzzy.
The Affordable Housing Act, signed on 19 March 2024, cemented a 1.5 percent deduction from every worker’s gross pay, matched by employers, to bankroll similar estates country-wide.
The houses are then either sold cash, or through a low tax mortgage advertised as rent-to-own.
The levy has survived two high-court nullifications, a Court of Appeal stay, and fresh petitions filed last month that again call its constitutionality into question.
Opposition fire and Gen Z push-back
Last year’s Gen Z-led #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests spilled into street battles that left at least 50 people dead and forced Ruto to withdraw a separate finance bill. Demonstrators lumped the housing levy into a wider complaint about a “tax-every-breath” presidency.
Politicians have kept the flames alight.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka vows to “scrap the levy on day one” if he wins the 2027 race, while former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and other break-away Kenya Kwanza figures have adopted the same pledge.
It is song and dance in Mukuru Kwa Njenga as residents celebrate the miracle that affordable housing program is. From shame to dignity…. pic.twitter.com/ClcVAeo4Mc
— Gerald Bitok (@geraldbitok) May 20, 2025
A volatile political week
- Natembeya in cuffs: On Monday, detectives arrested Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya on graft charges linked to Sh260 million in procurement. He spent the night at EACC headquarters before a Tuesday court appearance; fuel for opposition claims of selective justice.
- Gachagua in the cross-hairs: Hours earlier, a multi-agency squad had reportedly raided two homes belonging to Gachagua. Government spokespeople deny a witch-hunt, but cabinet insiders have openly warned the former DP that “incitement” could land him in jail.
Ruto used Tuesday’s hand-over to paint opponents as anti-worker and anti-development. He boasted that none of his predecessors had the courage to tackle the housing and slum problem head-on.
The AHP claims 140,000 units completed country-wide as of April and targets 200,000 new homes annually.
Still, looming VAT changes on steel and cement in the Finance Bill 2025, plus continuing court battles, threaten to slow delivery. For now, Ruto gets to show the result of one of his major promises.
