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Principal Secretary for State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga addressing the press.
Image: KNA
 
In Summary
  • Housing PS Charles Hinga said the project will take four years to complete.

  • The project is in partnership with UN Habitat. 

It's all systems go as the government is set to launch the Mavoko Affordable Housing Programme as President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four agenda continues to take shape.

 

It's all systems go as the government is set to launch the Mavoko Affordable Housing Programme as President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four agenda continues to takes shape.

The groundbreaking which is set to take place this Saturday will see the construction of 5,360 units, costing the government slightly above Sh20 billion. 

Housing PS Charles Hinga said the project will take four years to complete. The project is in partnership with UN Habitat.

Given the uniqueness of the project, which will be on 55 acres, Hinga noted that it was the first affordable housing project undertaken by a local contractor .

"The uniqueness of this project is that it is being undertaken by a local contractor, hence money for the project will circulate locally ,"Hinga added.

Epco builders Limited managing director Ramji Varsani highlighted that the housing project is the biggest in Machakos county.

"It has been a long journey doing consultation on pricing, specification of the units, but finally the D-day is almost here," he said.

Epco has in total delivered of 10,000 units in Kenya in various projects.

The MD assured the government that Epco Builders will deliver good quality houses at an affordable price. 

Mavoko housing project will consist of 960 units for one bedroomed houses, 2,400 units for two bedroom, 1,440 units for three bedroom and 560 units for studio design.

PS Hinga also disclosed that the project will consist of a community centre, primary school, kindergarten, commercial centre, fire station and police station. 

"Adjacent to this project is the just-concluded Mavoko Sustainable Development Housing where we have put up the largest police station in Machakos county and probably the lower Eastern region and will be commissioned soon," he added.

Hinga noted that the government was delivering affordable housing and at the same time playing a part in creating employment opportunities for hundreds of youths and women who will work on-site.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, only 23.1 per cent of urban dwellers own a house indicating that Kenya lacks decent housing.

The Affordable Housing Programme, which was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, is one of the pillars under the Big Four Agenda.

It is intended to provide decent and affordable housing to low and middle-income households By Maureen Kinyanjui, The Star

 

One week after the fire at the Gitega prison in Burundi families of the victims are still in the dark about the remains of their loved ones.

Some have already lifted their partial mourning.

An orphaned father following the fire at the Gitega central prison

"After the fire, we learned that our father was among the victims. We waited for the burial but in vain; and we organised the partial mourning in accordance with Burundian tradition", said an orphaned father following the fire at the Gitega central prison.

Families complain they have not been given access to the remains of the victims.

Legal representatives believe the state should have been involved in the funerals.

"These funerals should have been organised by the state. Failing that, at least the bodies should have been returned to their respective families so that they could organise the funerals themselves. So, I dare to hope that it is one or the other option, we are still waiting for that day to come" lamented Tatien Sibomana, former prosecutir of the Gitega prison.

The penal establishment has a capacity of 400 hundred inmates but housed more than 1500 prisoners.

Former prosecutor raises the issue of overcrowding and suggests an alternative.

"Freedom is the principle and detention the exception. This principle should be translated into the laws and regulations of Burundi. All those who are serving their sentences and who have already served a quarter of their sentences should be released if at least their files are in order in terms of discipline" defends Tatien Sibomana.

According to official figures, 38 people died and 69 were injured in the fire.

As of 26 November, Burundi's eleven prisons held 12,878 prisoners for a capacity of 4,924, according to the prison administration. - Africanews

Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe during a Consultative High Level Meeting at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa on December 15, 2021. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG

Kenya has detected its first cases of the Omicron variant among travelers, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said on Wednesday.

He, however, declined to state the number of cases confirmed, saying he will comment on it after the full genome sequencing is completed.

Named a variant of concern by the World Health Organisation, Omicron has been said to spread fast. But, so far, it does not lead to severe disease.

Due to its fast-spreading nature, CS Kagwe urged Kenyans to adhere to health protocols and avoid crowded areas. He also urged everyone in Kenya to get the full Covid vaccine dose.

He, however, ruled out the possibility of a lockdown.

"Epidemiologists have said a lockdown is not the way to go," he added. By Eunice Omollo, The East African 

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma walks with his daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambdula after appearing in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, October 26, 2021. REUTERS/Rogan Ward/Files

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 15 (Reuters) - South Africa's High Court ordered former President Jacob Zuma to return to jail after setting aside the decision to release him on medical parole, a court judgement showed on Wednesday.

The 79-year old began medical parole in September, and is serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, after he ignored instructions to participate in a corruption inquiry. In the same month, South Africa's top court dismissed a bid by him to overturn the sentence. read more

Zuma handed himself in on July 7 to begin his prison sentence, triggering the worst violence South Africa had seen in years, as angry Zuma supporters took to the streets.

According to the IGG, Uganda loses approximately Shs10 trillion to corruption every year and the lost funds include money generated from loans.

 

What you need to know:

  • According to the Bank of Uganda, over the last two years alone (2019-2021), Uganda’s debt increased by 49.5 per cent from Shs47.1trillion in August 2019 to Shs70.4trillion in June 2021.
  • Irrespective of the fact that Uganda ratified the UN Convention against Corruption and established a robust legal, institutional, policy, managerial framework to fight the vice, economic activists say they remain deeply concerned that the incidence and levels of corruption in Uganda have continued to escalate.

Uganda’s growing debt burden and the pace at which the debt is accumulating have now become a matter of concern to some of the stakeholders monitoring public debt levels. According to the Bank of Uganda, over the last two years alone (2019-2021), Uganda’s debt increased by 49.5 per cent from Shs47.1trillion in August 2019 to Shs70.4trillion in June 2021.


As a result, the Uganda Debt Network, Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, Action Aid International Uganda and Transparency International Uganda have noted that they are deeply concerned with the state of affairs, describing it as dangerous path to tread.
One of the main worries, according to the civil society organisations monitoring the public debt situation pertains to the low return on investment resulting from the borrowed resources.  

“The productivity of these debt resources however, is low with the World Bank observing in one of their Economic update on Uganda that for every dollar invested in Uganda’s capital infrastructure, only seven-tenth (0.7) of a dollar has been generated which is far below countries that have successfully undergone structural transformation,” said Ms Christine Byiringiro, a policy specialist and an expert on matters public debt. 


She continued: “As an example, every dollar invested in the development of the interstate highway network in the USA between 1954 and 2001, generated six dollars’ worth of economic activity. Therefore, Uganda's public investments are falling short of generating the desired economic return, mainly due to corruption.”

Deep rooted corruption 


Irrespective of the fact that Uganda ratified the UN Convention against Corruption and established a robust legal, institutional, policy, managerial framework to fight the vice, economic activists say they remain deeply concerned that the incidence and levels of corruption in Uganda have continued to escalate.
According to the IGG, the country loses approximately Shs10 trillion to corruption every year and the lost funds include money generated from loans. This, according to Ms Byiringiro has crippled a number of loan funded projects which do not perform satisfactorily. 
 
The CSOs are of the view that the existing laws and policies have not been fully implemented to aid productivity of debt resources. For example Article 159(3) of the Constitution of Uganda requires that terms and conditions of loans shall be presented before Parliament and shall not come into operation unless they have been approved by a resolution of the MPs. 


“Unfortunately, in some instances loans are acquired by government without the requisite Parliamentary approval with best example being the Lubowa Specialised Hospital,” the CSOs said in a joint statement. 


Further, the statement issued Sunday, indicates that Parliament has also not played its part in scrutinizing loan proposals and agreements thus giving way to loan contracts with bad terms like in the case of Entebbe airport upgrade project.

Analysis which Ministry of Finance agrees with indicates that poor performance of loans is as a result of poor or lack of proper planning prior to acquisition, implying that the government acquires loans first and then works backwards. 


Economic experts argue that there is also little or no consultation and involvement of project beneficiaries, restraining citizens from monitoring government projects. This has increased the level of misuse of resources and corruption. This is in addition to delayed procurements, paving way to delayed commencement of projects, completion, affecting much needed service delivery. 

Call to action…


It seems as if all boils down to the government to do the right thing. And for that, the CSOs would want to see the government strengthen its ability to generate evidence of corruption within and outside the country and prosecute the corrupt, given that the money lost to vice is taxpayers’. 
“We welcome the lifestyle audit campaign. We implore citizens to support the Inspectorate of Government, especially with information on public officers’ assets as one of the ways to check corruption in Uganda,” Mr Marlon Agaba, Head of Programs at Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, told journalists on Sunday.

The CSOs also slammed President Museveni for appearing to encourage corruption given his remarks during the commemoration of the Anti-Corruption Day at Kololo ceremonial grounds last week.


Speaking as the Chief Guest, Mr  Museveni cautioned against lifestyle audit which Ms Betti Kamya, the government watchdog, has been mooting since she was appointed the new Inspector General of Government (IGG) in July this year. And as for the Parliament, the message from the CSO is: “Perform your oversight role with utmost care, and scrutinise loan proposals before approval.”  By Ismail Musa Ladu, Daily Monitor

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