Murang’a County — Stone miners and sand harvesters in Murang’a County are set to benefit significantly from the government’s affordable housing construction programme. Elijah Mwangi, the Principal Secretary for Mining, announced the integration of artisanal miners into the housing project during a speech in Murang’a town on Tuesday.
According to Kenya News Agency, Mwangi revealed that the Mining Department has established a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing, under which artisanal miners in the county are expected to supply about 60 per cent of the construction materials for the affordable housing programme. For inclusion in the programme, miners must be members of cooperative societies. Two such societies have already been registered, with plans to register eight more by the end of the year.
The Principal Secretary emphasized the importance of miners joining these cooperatives to be considered as suppliers of materials like
sand and construction stones for the building of affordable houses. The construction of these housing units is scheduled to commence before year-end, with preparations already underway at the Makenji area in Kandara Sub County, the designated site for the housing project.
Mwangi noted that Murang’a is rich in quarries and sand sources, making it a strategic location for sourcing materials needed for the construction of affordable housing units. The focus is to fully leverage the potential of artisanal miners in the region to support this initiative.
To ensure the miners’ participation in the programme, Mwangi called on the County Government of Murang’a to expedite the registration of the remaining artisanal miners’ Saccos before the year’s end. This step is crucial to enable them to be considered as suppliers for the construction materials needed for the affordable housing projects.
The Principal Secretary also urged those engaged in stone and sand mining to register with Saccos to benefit from the government’s affordable housing programme, which is part of a broader effort to provide accessible housing solutions to Kenyans.