The Nairobi High Court has overturned President William Ruto’s directive to allocate 40% of affordable housing units to teachers and police officers, saying it has no legal basis.
Justice Patricia Nyaundi Mande ruled on October 29, 2026, that the President’s speeches on 3rd June 2025 and 13th September 2025 “have no legal effect and cannot be used to change or add to the criteria for the allocation of housing units as stipulated in the Affordable Housing Act and Regulations”.
The directive would have allocated 20% of the national affordable housing programme to teachers and another 20% to members of the National Police Service. The President said this was because teachers have contributed greatly to the Affordable Housing Levy (approximately KSh 900 million per month) and recommended formalising this through agreements with the relevant ministry and teachers.
The petition was filed by John Maina Ndegwa, Marshall Tito Ongoya and two other co-petitioners. They argued that the housing programme is funded through contributions from Kenyans across all professions.
Allocating housing based on profession would be discriminatory and go against Article 43 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to adequate housing. The petitioners also argued that allocating quotas would undermine accountability.
The government’s lawyers said that the President was within his rights to direct the ministries to work together, as he has constitutional powers to do so. They argued that the statements did not change the Act or oblige the Affordable Housing Board to allocate specific numbers of units. They also said that the petition was premature, as no individuals had been excluded.
However, Justice Mande said that the court could intervene where there was a real and present danger to constitutional rights. She said that whilst the President could direct the implementation of existing legislation, he could not create new categories of people to receive preferential treatment.
“The executive can only assist with the implementation of the law but cannot change the law or create new rights and preferences. The statements fall foul of Article 10 of the Constitution, which guarantees the observance of national values, including the rule of law, equity, social justice, inclusiveness and non-discrimination.”
The court ruled that the two statements have no legal effect. Teachers and police officers can still apply for housing under the standard criteria set out in the Act. The Affordable Housing Programme remains unchanged. No order was made on costs, as the litigation was in the public interest.
– By John Murunga
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