- High Court rules that affordable housing allocation must follow the law.
- Court rejects presidential directives giving teachers and police priority.
- Judge says housing preferences must be backed by legislation, not presidential announcements.
Affordable housing units must be allocated strictly under the Affordable Housing Act and its regulations, the High Court has ruled, ending any suggestion that teachers and police officers can jump the queue on the strength of a presidential announcement.
Justice Patricia Nyaundi Mande found that statements by President William Ruto on June 3 and September 13, 2025, had no legal effect because no legislation or established policy framework supported them. The announcements had given the two professions priority for homes under the Affordable Housing Programme.
The ruling answers a petition by John Maina Ndegwa, Marshalls Tito Ongoya and two others. They challenged a proposal to set aside 20 per cent of the affordable units for teachers and police officers, arguing that Article 43 of the Constitution gives every Kenyan an equal right to housing, and that favouring chosen professional groups needed a lawful basis.
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The judge agreed that allocation criteria come from the law and not from the Executive. She said the President’s powers under Article 132 of the Constitution do not let the Executive override legislation passed by Parliament, and that executive authority can help implement a law but cannot create preferences outside it.
The respondents and interested parties conceded during the case that the announcements carried no legal effect, since legislation already governs how the houses are allocated. On that basis, the court declared that the two announcements could not lawfully change or add to the existing criteria.
By Benedict Aoya
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