Reprieve for unemployed youth as Chuka Affordable Housing Project opens job opportunities
The Chuka Affordable Housing Project has directly employed 300 youth drawn from Chuka Town and surrounding areas.
It is a beehive of activities at Chuka Affordable Housing Project as more than 300 skilled and unskilled workers– the majority of them being youth– build the massive structure, block by block and piece by piece.
A key pillar of President William Ruto’s ambitious plan to address the housing shortage, provide citizens with decent housing and also create employment opportunities for the youth, the project has become a key source of income for locals.
According to Ferros Khan, the Chuka Affordable Housing Operations Manager, the project is expected to significantly boost the socioeconomic status of Chuka and Tharaka Nithi in general. The project comprises four blocks with 10-storeys each and 385 units in total, he said.
“With this project, the President has done a lot for us because it has created job opportunities for the Gen Z and even mothers, the elderly, the mothers, and Persons With Disabilities, are going to benefit from this project,” Khan said.
Noting that the project is slated to be completed in December, Khan said that the project adopts the whole-community approach with male, females and even People With Disabilities (PWDs) actively involved in the ongoing construction.
“My friend, this project is going to change this area a lot because it is a big project and it is going to create jobs for many people. Already, it is already solving many issues because many people get more here,” he said.
Apart from providing job opportunities for the skilled and unskilled labourers, the project has also opened opportunities for graduate interns, providing them with hands-on training and monthly stipends from the government.
In January, President Ruto hosted more than 5,000 interns with qualifications in the construction industry including civic and structural engineers, quantity surveyors, planners, and Information and Communications (ICT) among others.
Marvice Wanja Mugambi, who graduated in 2023 at Karatina University with a Bachelor’s in Communication and Public Relations, now works at the project, helping in dissemination of information.
“I was part of the 5,000 and this internship programme has helped a lot, it is offering the youth with job opportunities. I am happy because this project has equipped us with skills. It has given us a job opportunity and also a platform where we can network with people here,” said Wanja.
“It has equipped us with skills and a platform to network so that after this internship we may gain employment. This internship also helps us earn something at the end of the month. It has created jobs for us, we will grow,” she said.
Maurice Gitonga, who studied Building Technology at Chuka Technical Vocational College, also earned an internship programme from the government recently.
“I was sent here by the government as an intern at Chuka Public Works as a Building Inspector, to inspect and to see the progress, to make sure that the progress of these housings are going well,” he said.
“As a Building Technologist, my role is to assist the engineers. The government led by President Ruto has done a great job in creating this job opportunity for us to be here. As youth, we are very, very much humbled,” he stated.
Describing Chuka Affordable Housing as a massive project, Mr Khan said it takes the form of modern housing complete with a basketball court, ample parking space, garbage collection area shop, stalls and day care where mothers can leave their children as they go to work.
“We have single bedrooms, we have double bedrooms and we have three bedroom houses,” he said, adding that the project also has job opportunities for locals. “We have 300 skilled and unskilled workers as well as casual laborers too, men are 60 percent and women 40 percent respectively.”
“I want to thank President Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki for bringing a project like this here because it is going to change this area and help the people a lot,” he stated, calling upon the youth to fully exploit the ongoing infrastructure development across the country for personal growth.
