Members of Taqwa SACCO are appealing for Nairobi county assembly intervention to save Sh387.5 million they have invested in a stalled housing project in Nairobi, seven years after they committed their savings to secure homes.
The members invested in 200 affordable housing units at the Nairobi Bachelors Jeevanjee project, 100 two bedroom and 100 three-bedroom houses.
The two-bedroom units were priced at Sh2.5 million, while the three-bedroom houses were going for Sh3.5 million.
According to Taqwa SACCO chief executive officer Dunia Abdi, members have so far paid 67 per cent of the required amount, totalling Sh387.5 million adding that Payments were stopped after the project stalled.
Abdi was speaking before the Nairobi County Assembly Planning Committee, where Taqwa SACCO officials appeared alongside individual investors seeking the committee’s intervention to find a way forward.
“We have been seeking intervention from various stakeholders including the Senate, Nairobi County and even the national government on this issue,” Abdi told the Planning committee.
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Members left waiting
The housing project was initially expected to be completed in 2023, leaving members who had committed their savings to the scheme waiting for homes they had hoped to occupy.
Abdi said some members invested with the expectation that the houses would provide them with security in retirement.
Some have since retired without receiving their homes and have been forced to return to their rural homes, she said.
Others took loans from banks and SACCOs to finance the purchase of the units and are now left servicing financial commitments without the houses they were promised.
Abdi said the prolonged uncertainty had taken a toll on investors, with some unsure whether they would ever recover their money or receive the houses.
“We have members who invested so that when they retire, they have somewhere to live,” Abdi told the committee.
She said Taqwa SACCO had acted as an agent for its members, negotiating for the units and collecting payments before remitting the money to Jabavu Village Limited, the developer contracted to undertake the project. The SACCO, she said, made quarterly payments to the developer on behalf of its members.
Members demand answers
The prolonged delay has also created tension between the investors, the SACCO, the developer and Nairobi County.
Abdi said some members had accused Taqwa SACCO of working with the developer to defraud them, allegations she denied.
The investors have also raised questions about the county government’s role in the project, with some saying the authorities should explain why the development has remained incomplete for years.
The members say explanations previously given for the delays, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and inflation, have failed to convince them.
Taqwa SACCO board member Issa Kioko said some members were now demanding a refund of their contributions if the project could not be completed.
Others want the county and national governments to find another developer to take over the project and complete the houses.
“We hoping that at the end of it we will see light at the end of the tunnel,” Kioko told the committee.
“We have people who are struggling from all walks of lifea. as investors, in this project,”
“Please rudisheni pesa zetu,….. some of them think Taqwa officials have eaten there money, we have not….we have evidence of remittance to the developer,”
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Individual investors also seek intervention
Individual investors who appeared before the committee said they were running out of patience after putting their own money into the development. Fredrick Ogwel and David Obiero appealed to the committee to intervene, saying they had invested individually and were now left without a clear solution.
“One of the attractive factors that me buy the houses is because both the Nairobi County and national government were partners in this project…it gave me trust,” Fredrick Ogwel, individual investor said.
They argued that Nairobi County, having been a partner in the development, should help find a solution to the impasse.
Bashir Duale, a Taqwa SACCO beneficiary, also appealed to the committee to help bring the long wait to an end.
Duale, who described himself as an elderly beneficiary, said he had waited for years for the project to be completed and had now begun losing hope.
“This project is the baby of Nairobi city county…it is yours….no one has come to our rescue..we have tried to have a meeting with the developer we haven’t we are told he is outside the country, it is now 7 years since 2019 and nothing is happening,”Duale said.
“people have lost there minds because they took entire savings into this project,”
Project reported to be 45 per cent complete
The concerns come a month after Nairobi County’s Planning and Housing executive officials appeared before the same committee and told the legislators that the project was about 45 per cent complete.
The county executive also told the committee that the developer had revised the completion date to December 31, 2027.
The project, which comprises about 1,800 units, was reported to have been scheduled to resume in September 2026.
Nairobi County holds a 16 per cent share of the houses, with 81 former tenants expected to benefit from two-bedroom units.
The latest timeline has done little to reassure investors who have already waited several years beyond the original completion date.
Committee seeks documents
Planning Committee chairperson Geoffrey Majiwa directed the investors to appear before the committee again in a week with the relevant documentation on the project.
More investors are also expected to appear before the committee to give evidence and shed light on their experiences.
Committee member and Nairobi Deputy speaker Paul Kados took time to emphasize that the project started under the leadership of the then governor Mike Sonko but the execution of it was not during his tenure this was after a question was raised if the Sacco members ever met with the former governor in relation to this housing project.
For the Taqwa SACCO members, the committee’s intervention could determine whether their years of waiting end with completed houses or a fresh battle to recover their savings.
For those who invested for retirement, the issue is no longer simply about a delayed construction project, It is about whether the money they committed to secure a home will eventually translate into a house or whether they will have to fight to get their savings back.
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