He would unlock this housing revolution by rolling out generous incentives to developers, chief among them the controversial 1.5 per cent Affordable Housing Levy, paid by workers and pegged to their gross pay, and matched by employers.
The levy provided a steady stream of financing to support housing schemes, while also creating a ready market through institutions such as the National Housing Corporation (NHC) — sweeteners that lured developers who had traditionally shied away from affordable housing projects.
However, among those reaping big from the affordable housing construction boom are his close allies — some of whom helped craft the United Democratic Alliance manifesto and now hold positions within government.
Businesswoman Mary Wambui Mungai.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
Mary Wambui, the Chairperson of the Athi Water Works Development Agency and an ally of President Ruto, is one of those linked to this construction bonanza.
Details from the government procurement portal showed that Nightingale (E.A.) Limited, a firm linked to associates of Ms Wambui, has been awarded a Sh4.78 billion tender to build apartments in Mathare Constituency, Nairobi County.
Disclosures from the Registrar of Companies show that the current shareholders of Nightingale (E.A.) Limited includes Edward Njenga Muniu, who owns 90 per cent of the company, while Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui, a business associate of Ms Wambui, holds a 10 per cent stake.
Documents show that Ms Wambui was previously a director and shareholder of Nightingale (E.A.) Limited but resigned on December 5, 2022, after being appointed by President Ruto as Chairperson of the Communications Authority of Kenya.
She transferred her shares and directorship of the company to her daughter, Everlyne Nyambura, who also resigned in June 2023.
Nightingale (E.A.) Limited won the tender to construct 2,956 low-cost houses under the Proposed Mathare II Social Housing Project.
Sitting on eight acres, the project will also have amenities such as a clubhouse, commercial stalls, a kindergarten, a powerhouse, a guard house and garbage receptacles.
External works will include road and parking works, a basketball pitch, underground water tanks, a boundary wall and landscaping.
A section of the Affordable Housing Project in Mukuru, Nairobi on December 11, 2024.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
When we sought clarification from Ms Wambui regarding the Sh4.78 billion affordable housing project in Mathare Constituency won by a firm linked to her, her lawyers responded that the article we intended to publish was “false and entirely devoid of any factual foundation”.
“Should you persist in proceeding with the intended article, we shall be compelled to take the necessary legal action to safeguard our client’s rights and interests,” read the message from M&E Advocates LLP.
Nakuru businessman Sam Mburu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Nakuru businessman Sam Mburu, another close ally of President Ruto, is also actively engaged in the Affordable Housing Project.
In July 2025, Mr Mburu — who is the husband of Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika — entered into an agreement with the State Department for Housing and Urban Development to construct 1,215 housing units under the Buffalo Phase 1 project and its associated infrastructure. Located in Naivasha, the project is valued at Sh2.58 billion.
The Sunday Nation has obtained the contract between Landmark Freight Services and the State Department for Housing, in which Mr Mburu — the sole shareholder of Landmark Freight — signed as the company’s representative.
The Buffalo Mall–Naivasha Affordable Housing project is located near Buffalo Mall Naivasha along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway in Nakuru County. The project will sit on seven acres of land. The housing units will comprise studio, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
Complete government affordable units in Bahati Sub-county, Nakuru County on June 11, 2025.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Supporting social amenities for the housing scheme include a kindergarten, a clubhouse, power infrastructure, open spaces and playgrounds, garages, road and parking works, sewer systems and an underground water tank.
Mr Mburu did not respond to our specific questions on the State tender, including whether building the project in Nakuru constitutes a conflict of interest given that his wife is the governor of the county.
“The procuring entity hereby covenants to pay the contractor in consideration of the execution and completion of the works and the remedying of defects therein, the contract price or such other sum as may become payable under the provisions of the contract at the times and in the manner prescribed by the contract,” reads part of the contract.
Similarly, information provided by the State Department for Housing showed that MHOA Africa Limited, owned by Turkish investor Harun Aydin, was part of a joint venture expected to build at least 100,000 homes under the affordable housing scheme.
Mr Aydin’s firm was registered in March 2023, months after Dr Ruto defied the odds by winning the fiercely contested August 2022 presidential election against opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had the backing of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The joint venture between Demir Group and MHOA Africa is among the two firms tapped under Category A, which is tasked with building over 100,000 homes under the affordable housing programme.
Official company ownership records at the State-owned Business Registration Service (BRS) show that Mr Aydin owns a 50 per cent stake in MHOA Africa, which is in a joint venture with Demir Group. His partner, Hamit Demir, also a Turkish national, owns the remaining 50 per cent stake.
Mr Aydin was deported from Kenya in 2021. Dr Ruto, who was then Deputy President, insisted on Mr Aydin’s innocence during his deportation, terming him a “victim” unfairly targeted by the authorities amid a political falling-out with Mr Kenyatta.
“Turkish investor Aydin Harun is a victim of top-down arrogance bred by patronage and cartels that criminalise enterprise,” the then Deputy President posted on his Twitter (now X) account on August 7, 2021.
Harun Aydin, the Turkish national who was to accompany DP William Ruto to Uganda.
Photo credit: Courtesy
Earlier, Mr Aydin, whom Dr Ruto described as an investor, had been caught up in the drama of a botched trip to Uganda from Wilson Airport involving the Deputy President.
The housing department has previously said, in response to our enquiries, that Mr Aydin had only been pre-qualified and was yet to be awarded a tender. But with just a fraction of the Sh600 billion already signed appearing on the tender portal, it was difficult to verify the department’s position and whether the firm had been awarded the tender.
UDA national elections board’s Chairman Anthony Mwaura.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Although Toddy Civil Engineering, owned by Antony Mwaura, the Chairperson of the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, has not secured a direct affordable housing contract, it has clinched a Sh49.3 million deal to construct Dagoretti Market for the Kiambu County Government.
However, the State Department for Housing plans to build an accompanying access road to Dagoretti Market. The national government maintains that such projects, though under county oversight, are being funded through the Affordable Housing Levy as associated infrastructure.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Affordable Housing Board, Sheila Waweru, said in a previous interview that the law does not restrict the board to using money from the levy only for social infrastructure within housing projects.
“The associated social infrastructure is built both where there is a project, but also where there is human settlement,” said Ms Waweru.
A flagship project for the Ruto-led government, the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) is funded directly by employed Kenyans through a mandatory 1.5 per cent salary deduction. The levy earns the government approximately Sh73.2 billion every financial year since its implementation began in July 2023.
The President recently revealed that affordable housing contracts worth Sh600 billion have so far been signed.
When Dr Ruto rose to power, Mr Mwaura and Ms Wambui were appointed to boards of critical State organisations — Mr Mwaura as Chairperson of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Ms Wambui as Chairperson of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
Both have since transitioned from those roles. Mr Mwaura was appointed to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority board after his KRA appointment was revoked by the High Court, while Ms Wambui is now Chairperson of the Athi Water Works Development Agency board following a direct swap in August 2025.
“The award of these tenders to close allies of the President is unmistakably suspicious,” stated John Mutua, the Public Finance Management (PFM) Lead at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
“That is why the portal (PPIP) is important. At least from the portal, you can trace whether the tendering process is competitive before getting into the issue of conflict of interest,” added Mr Mutua.
Ms Wambui, Mr Mburu and Mr Mwaura have also secured contracts in other sectors, including the importation of food grains and the construction of roads, dams and ICT infrastructure.
The ICT Authority invited bidders for the fibre optic network tender on March 14, 2023. The initial deadline for applications was March 28, 2023, but this was extended by two weeks.
Nightingale Enterprises (now Nightingale (E.A.) Limited), associated with Ms Wambui, was one of the bidders awarded contracts for laying fibre optic cables and related accessories, a component of the government’s Digital Superhighway project.
This sparked concerns over a potential conflict of interest, as Ms Wambui was Chairperson of the Communications Authority at the time. Both the Communications Authority and the procuring entity, the ICT Authority (ICTA), fall under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy.
In 2024, Nightingale (E.A.) Limited was awarded a Sh1.32 billion contract to build the Kandara Water Supply project. The company also clinched a Sh163.8 million deal to upgrade a stadium in Kiambu County.
Shortly after President Ruto assumed office, the tender to rehabilitate sections of Mombasa Road damaged during the construction of the Nairobi Expressway was awarded to two local companies.
Mr Mwaura’s firm, Toddy Civil Engineering, is another major winner under the current administration. While it previously delivered works such as Kirubia Stadium and Chuka Hospital, it has recently secured a Sh736.9 million contract for Mumbi Stadium in Kiambu, a Sh151.72 million tender for the Kipini fish landing site, and various local infrastructure projects, including Dagoretti Market.
Dr Ruto rose to power at a time when ordinary Kenyans were grappling with the high cost of living, with inflation reaching a 65-month high of 9.58 per cent in October 2022.
Prices of basic commodities, including rice, cooking oil, fertiliser, sugar and beans, soared. The urgent solution, in the view of the new administration, was to open the country’s borders to allow the importation of cheaper foodstuffs.
Through the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC), the government planned to import 115,000 tonnes of sugar to avert a shortage that had seen retail prices skyrocket to an average of Sh200 per kilogramme.
