ODM Politians Justifies Supporting Affordable Housing Bill
ODM Politians Justifies Supporting Affordable Housing Bill
Senator Tom Ojienda of Kisumu provided an explanation on Thursday of why, despite coming from a region where officials strongly opposed the Affordable Housing Bill, he threw his support behind its altered version.
The congressman cited affordable housing as a major tenet of party leader Raila Odinga’s agenda in order to defend his choice.
“Affordable housing is one of the pillars of our party’s framework, which is the ODM manifesto, and you are aware that the party leader spoke highly of the project,” Ojienda clarified.
He further stated that the availability of jobs for residents of his county, which will be ensured by law, was the basis for his support of the initiative.
Every Kenyan, Ojienda claims, is eligible to apply for a house, with the government confirming that issuance will occur on a first-come, first-served basis.
He added that the government was making efforts to guarantee that an affordable housing project was built in every county.
Moreover, Ojienda added that within some counties such as Homabay and Nairobi some projects were almost complete.
His argument also centred around explaining that the project would seek to revitalise the estates in the country which had been run down.
However, ODM and the Azimio Coalition at large both opposed the bill before it was passed noting that it will impose a heavy tax burden on Kenyans.
In the buildup to the 2022 presidential election, Azimio’s manifesto showed that Raila, had he been elected President intended to establish a Housing Fund that would support County Governments in the development of the projects.
The coalition also sought to remove building supplies from value-added taxation (VAT), a move they believed would bring down the cost of building in the nation.
Before being spared by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal, Ojienda was among the ODM rebels who were kicked out of the party for supporting President William Ruto.
