Gathoni Wamuchomba Shreds William Ruto's Housing Project, Likens It To Land Grabbing Scheme

• Gathoni Wamuchomba expressed her concerns that the affordable housing project could potentially turn out as a land-grabbing scheme
• Wamuchomba issued a warning, suggesting that leaders supporting the project might regret their decisions and face consequences
• The MP questioned the lack of clarity on the legal framework governing the housing project, highlighting uncertainties

Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has never been shy about criticising President William Ruto, despite him being her party leader.

Among the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party members who voted against the housing levy, Wamuchomba has maintained her reservations towards the affordable housing project.

During an interview on Spice FM on Thursday, November 30, the lawmaker claimed she fears the affordable housing would be a land grabbing scheme.

Wamuchomba warned that some of the leaders fronting the project would regret their decision and would have to pay.

"I think when I said this is scandalous, I meant that there are some schemes of taking over prime land and handing over to other players unconstitutionally, irregularly, and some of us will pay for what we are doing now in the future," she said.

She explained that she is yet to understand what the land owner gets out of the project after the government allocates their prime land to the project.

"I still don't understand how you come to Kiambu county, my land is worth KSh 300m, and you want me to hand you this land without any agreement between you, the off-taker and the owner. And you bring in a foreigner and you want the foreigner to be the contractor and the person to sell off these houses and take over the management of these houses in posterity.

What is my role as the owner of that land? That is a very contentious issue, and the legal framework that has been managing the issue of housing to me is still not very clear," Wamuchomba posed.

Why Wamuchomba is against affordable housing project

The MP reiterated that until clarity is provided to some of her questions and the law backs the project she would stand firm on her beliefs.

Wamuchomba stated she's not ready to start answering difficult questions in the future after approving what she doesn't understand.

"Those are the issues that make some of us stand very firm and say no until we are clear. Remember I have a future in politics in this country and I don't want to be asked questions that I cannot answer. So I would rather stand for what I know and believe in," she added.

Wamuchomba's U-turn from Ruto's fold

The lawmaker is on record expressing disdain against the bureaucrats in Ruto's government, accusing them of being biased against women.

In June this year, Wamuchomba observed that only their male counterparts had been entrusted with the task of advancing the government agenda to the masses.

The lawmaker was referencing the Big Conversation programme organised by the Royal Media outlets led by Citizen TV, where state mandarins like then Trade CS Moses Kuria and Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga faced Kenyans to explain certain policies the government intended to actualise.

She noted that no woman leader or technocrat featured in the list of government panellists; she concluded that the regime abhors women's input on issues pertinent to the country.

Wamuchomba was among the leaders who opposed the contentious Finance Bill 2023 before it was signed into law.