by Maxwell Amunga on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 – 6:47 pm An image of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) old housing unit, with an insert of a blueprint of new housing units to be constructed across 17 centers. Photo KFS The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) intends to build 60 housing units for its staff across 17 of the country’s 172 forest stations in a new upgrading plan. According to the Service, the housing units will comprise two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses in all the selected stations, meant to ensure the staff live in absolute comfort. KFS confirmed this initiative on June 17 during a meeting with key infrastructure leaders and the State Department of Housing for the force, which has approximately 6,000 employees. “At a consultative meeting chaired by the Deputy Director in charge of Administration & Infrastructure Development, Isack Wekesa, KFS and a delegation from the State Department for Housing and Urban Development led by Architect Hassan Yusuf deliberated on plans to jointly develop staff housing in 17 KFS stations,” stated KFS. A stand of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) at the 2017 Nairobi International Show. Photo KFS The planned units will be constructed jointly with the State Department for Housing and Urban Development, in collaboration with KFS to see its staff get not only affordable but proper housing. Available data indicates that, for forest rangers and field officers at station outposts, housing challenges are acute, with many rangers forced to live in temporary tents or improvised iron-sheet structures near remote forest outposts. The housing project is meant to address the massive staff housing deficit, severely exacerbated by recent expansions in the “Green Army” and the recruitment of 2,700 new forest rangers early this year. In addition to officer housing, KFS is erecting barracks at stations like Karura Forest and Ngong Hills to accommodate National Youth Service (NYS) personnel, who assist KFS with large-scale tree seedling propagation, a programme that attracted widespread condemnation. At the Karura Forest headquarters on Kiambu Road, KFS completed 14 brand-new ranger housing units and integrated a freshly tarmacked 3-kilometre internal road network to ensure efficient staff mobility. Due to inadequate infrastructure, many frontline officers, especially rangers, are forced to live in temporary tents or outside their designated camps. However, r egional hubs like Nakuru (including Molo, Bararget, and Elburgon lines) have received targeted infrastructure funding to replace temporary structures with dignified brick-and-mortar camps. President William Ruto’s administration has made housing a central pillar of civil servant welfare, mandating a 3 per cent salary deduction from all government employees to finance the national Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). The broader goal is to bridge Kenya’s nationwide housing deficit by constructing up to 250,000 low-cost houses annually, a target designed to drastically reduce accommodation challenges and lift both standard public servants and uniformed personnel out of substandard living conditions. Budget-wise, the 2026/27 national budget allocated Ksh143.7 billion to housing, with the bulk of the allocation going to Affordable Housing Units at Ksh50.6 billion, followed by Social Housing Units at Ksh20.9 billion, Institutional Housing at Ksh20.2 billion, and the Kenya Urban Program at Ksh18.6 billion. Affordable Housing projects in Kenya at different stages of construction Kenyans.co.ke Latest News IG Kanja Announces Crackdown on Matatus After Nicco Movers Saga Wed, 17 Jun 2026 – 8:01 pm KFS to Build Staff Housing Units in Select Stations Countrywide Wed, 17 Jun 2026 – 6:47 pm Bullet Recovered as Postmortem Reveals Cause of Death of Nanyuki Student Wed, 17 Jun 2026 – 5:28 pm KNEC Responds to Plans for Major Shift Ahead of KCSE, KJSEA Exams Wed, 17 Jun 2026 – 5:11 pm Relief for Kenyans Filing Taxes as KRA Announces Immediate Changes Wed, 17 Jun 2026 – 5:01 pm Senators