State invites investors to build 50,000 police houses

Mr Silas Mak’Opiyo, the director of planning at the National Police Service during the vetting on Thursday. Photo/Martin Mukangu 

By NEVILLE OTUKI,

In Summary

• The National Police Service (NPS) said on Thursday it would pursue the public-private partnerships (PPP) model to construct 50,000 new houses for junior officers.
• Junior officers have over the years had to contend with poor housing conditions, including sharing of single rooms by married workers.
• The National Police Service was allocated Sh1.2 billion in the current financial year for construction of 2,000 new units to be undertaken by the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

An opportunity has opened for real estate investors with the government looking for partners to help alleviate biting accommodation shortage in the police service.

The National Police Service (NPS) said on Thursday it would pursue the public-private partnerships (PPP) model to construct 50,000 new houses for junior officers.

“The government has invited the private sector through an expression of interest notice for the construction of 50,000 police houses,” NPS director of planning, research and development Silas Mak’Opiyo said Thursday when he appeared for vetting.

Mr Mak’Opiyo also said the Interim Police Reforms Report in 2009 should be implemented, giving police officers house allowances and mortgages as alternatives to being housed in staff quarters.

Junior officers have over the years had to contend with poor housing conditions, including sharing of single rooms by married workers.

Mr Mak’Opiyo said the model would relieve the Treasury of the financial burden and expedite the construction of accommodation facilities.

Mr Mak’Opiyo told the National Police Service Commission vetting panel that a study conducted in 2005 had established a housing shortfall of 27,000 among officers, saying the number has grown over the years.

“The findings were followed by a three-year rapid development response programme to address the issue,” he explained. In the plan, 20 housing blocks would be set up in the first two years and the rest in 2008. However, the ambitious strategy suffered setbacks, with the Treasury financing a fraction of the units staggered over six years.

Mr Mak’Opiyo said that 3,980 new police houses have been set up across the country in the last nine years under his watch with the construction of 1,143 more units ongoing. At present, there are 441 police posts in the country.

The National Police Service was allocated Sh1.2 billion in the current financial year for construction of 2,000 new units to be undertaken by the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

NHC has picked Ruai Police Station as the launch pad with ongoing construction of 44 units.

READ: NHC picks Ruai as launch pad for police housing project

NHC said the houses would be built using the cheaper Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) technology that uses soft boards and wire mesh to make floor, wall and roof panels.

The panels are made at the NHC’s Sh1 billion factory at Mavoko in Machakos County.

In July last year, Inspector General David Kimaiyo said the service intended to acquire 40,000 housing units to meet demand for its officers through construction, leasing or purchase.