A controversial amendment to Section
90 of the Land Act, currently before a Senate committee, poses a grave threat
to the rights of beneficiaries under the Affordable Housing Scheme.
Kenyans have until Tuesday, April 15,
2025, to voice their opposition to these proposals, which seek to drastically
curtail the legal safeguards for affordable housing mortgage holders facing
default.
The existing Section 90 of the Land
Act provides a crucial three-month (approximately 90-day) window for borrowers
in monetary default to regularize their payments before financial institutions
can initiate further action.
However, the proposed amendment
chillingly aims to slash this vital lifeline to a mere 45 days, but only for affordable
housing beneficiaries.
This drastic reduction will leave
countless Kenyan families, many of whom are first-time homeowners accessing affordable
housing, dangerously vulnerable.
Faced with unforeseen financial
challenges, they will have half the time to recover before their homes are
sold.
This will disproportionately impact
those already financially stretched and less equipped to navigate sudden
economic hardship.
Many have lost their
current means of shelter in favour of the Affordable Housing Scheme.
Adding insult to injury, the
proposed changes also target Section 96 of the Land Act, which currently
mandates a 40-day notice to sell a charged property after the initial default
period.
The amendment seeks to whittle this
crucial window down to a mere 20 days for affordable housing mortgages.
This accelerated timeline for
property disposal will further disadvantage homeowners, severely limiting their
options to find alternative solutions or protect their investments.
It is clearly discriminatory.
The implications are particularly
alarming given the very purpose of the Affordable Housing Act – to provide
accessible and adequate housing, especially to vulnerable populations.
This includes residents of informal
settlements who are granted the "first right of purchase" under
Section 47 of the Act. It is a cruel irony that these individuals, prioritized
for homeownership, now face the highest risk of losing their homes in a
fraction of the time afforded to other property owners.
This targeted erosion of legal
protection for affordable housing beneficiaries raises profound questions about
fairness and equity.
It flies in the face of the spirit,
and arguably the letter, of Article 27 of the Constitution, guaranteeing equal
protection and benefit of the law to all Kenyans.
Why should those striving for
affordable shelter be subjected to a significantly more punitive legal framework
than other homeowners?
Doesn’t the very philosophy behind
affordable housing demand greater safeguards for its vulnerable beneficiaries?
Is there a hidden agenda, a
predatory motive waiting for the less fortunate to stumble so their hard-earned
homes can be snatched away?
This proposed amendment to the Land
Act reeks of a land grab in disguise, potentially facilitating the swift
seizure of properties from vulnerable homeowners by financial institutions.
It undermines the core objective of
affordable housing and establishes a dangerous two-tiered system of property
rights in Kenya.
Kenyans must rise and vehemently
resist this injustice! You have until Tuesday, April 15, 2025, to submit your
memorandum to the Senate in opposition to these proposals.
Contact your Senators now and demand
they reject these discriminatory amendments to Section 90 and Section 96 of the
Land Act.
Let your voice be heard loud and clear: Equal protection under the law for all homeowners! Do not let the dream of affordable housing turn into a poisoned cup of accelerated dispossession.
