While touring Taita Taveta County, President William Ruto told a crowd that multi‑storey residential blocks being built in Nairobi should also be constructed in rural areas, adding a joke about installing lifts for chickens.

He also stressed that rural counties should benefit from multi‑story residential developments similar to those underway in major cities, a point he made while delivering the Affordable Housing Programme message.

Ruto’s remarks drew laughter from the audience, and the moment was used to highlight the government’s push for the Affordable Housing Programme across the country.

Background to the chicken‑housing dispute

The exchange follows a July 2026 interview in which Senator Edwin Sifuna criticised 12‑storey affordable housing blocks in Funyula, Busia County, arguing that high‑rise designs ignore rural households’ reliance on keeping chickens.

Sifuna later posted on social media that debating chickens with him was as futile as arguing with another senator about potatoes, keeping the issue in public discourse.

Administration’s next steps for affordable housing

Ruto reiterated that the Kenya Kwanza government will continue rolling out the flagship housing initiative across all 47 counties, framing multi‑storey projects as tools for land conservation, urban planning and local job creation.

Local leaders in Taita Taveta presented a long list of project requests during the Sunday event, which the president interpreted as a sign of confidence in his administration’s delivery capacity.