US $55m Buxton Housing Project in Mombasa County, Kenya is scheduled to be launched on 1st May by President Uhuru Kenyatta. This is after Housing and Urban Development PS Charles Hinga and Head of Presidential Delivery Unit Andrew Wakahiu inspected the project, and termed it, ‘the largest affordable housing project in the country’.

The two government officials said that the Buxton Housing Project is one of the many projects under the Public Private Partnership aimed at improving living standards of residents and boosting the economy of the region.

According to the project developer Mr. Suleiman Shahbal, the project will lead to the creation of 750 jobs directly and about 3,000 others indirectly. “The project will be a game changer in the county as it will provide job opportunities to our youth,” he said during the inspection.

Project dispute

The visit by the government officials came days after the Environment and Land Court in Mombasa dismissed an application by residents who were seeking orders to restrain the county government from demolishing houses in the estate. This was after the county government forced more than 500 residents out of the houses after an earlier case was also dismissed by the court.

After the first ruling was delivered two weeks ago, the county demolished some of the houses. The following day, the affected residents received cheques of US $2,203.25 each as relocation allowance.

In his recent ruling, Justice Sila Munyao said the residents cannot pocket the cheques and go to court to seek injunction or status quo orders.