The Ministry of Defence has shortlisted 8 companies to battle it out for a multi-billion shillings tender to build around 11,000 houses across several barracks.
The bidders include local Civil Engineering firm, H. Young East Africa and a three firm consortium led by Centum that includes Zutari Kenya, Blink Studio and NorthWind Consulting.
These local firms will square it out with Chinese firms, Gezhouba Company Limited, China Railways Construction Engineering Group, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and the China Railway Engineering Group Company Limited.
The tender follows the move by the Kenyan military in April to invite private investors under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Under the model, the military will inject KSh. 1 billion during the first phase of the project with the rest of the funds expected to come from private investors, according to the Business Daily.
The winning developer will rent out the houses to KDF for 15 years, to allow them to recover their investment after which the lease will terminate and ownership will revert to the military.
The immediate need for housing by the KDF is estimated at 11,200 housing units, with the first phase expected to yield 2,340 housing units.
The target sites for the housing project include the Nanyuki military base for a total of 737 units, the Roysambu military base for 500 units as well as the Lanet military base, for 125 units.
