As Kenya shapes up for general elections in 2027, President William Ruto has been inspecting and commissioning different government projects, including under the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP). Social media posts have shared aerial photos of a residential estate, claiming they show a successful AHP development in the Kenyan coastal county of Kilifi. However, the claims are false; the photos show a recently completed housing project that encountered delays in Nigeria’s Ogun state.
“Those who say Kenya is not moving forward should just see for themselves kilifi county Affodable housing (sic),” reads the caption of a Facebook post written partly in Swahili.
The post, which has been shared more than 60 times since it was published on August 23, 2026, includes photos of what appear to be a newly built residential estate with colourful roofs.
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on September 17, 2026
Another post on X shared the same images with a similar claim.
The Affordable Housing Programme (AHP), inherited from the previous administration in 2022, is one of Ruto’s flagship projects targeting to build 250,000 new houses annually (archived here).
Despite facing legal challenges claiming its mandatory 1.5% housing levy was unconstitutional, Ruto secured the programme’s legal framework through the Affordable Housing Act of March 2024, which the Court of Appeal fully upheld on September 25, 2026 (archived here and here).
To track its nationwide rollout, the programme’s website lists projects by location and stages of completion, as the government accelerates construction ahead of the August 2027 vote, in which Ruto is seeking reelection (archived here).
While Kilifi has several ongoing AHP developments, the photos shared online are unrelated to the county.
Nigerian estate
A reverse image search led to an article by Nigerian news outlet Premium Times from August 2026, featuring one of the photos showing the same rows of buildings with green roofs (archived here).
The article identifies the development as the President Muhammadu Buhari Estate in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun state in southwestern Nigeria. The estate is named after Nigeria’s former president, who died in July 2025.
Screenshot of the report published by Nigeria’s Premium Times, taken on September 22, 2026
According to the article, the project was entangled in a legal dispute over outstanding payments to the contractor. Ogun state governor Dapo Abiodun reportedly settled the dispute out of court and funded the completion of the project.
Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s first lady, commissioned the project on August 18, 2026 (archived here).
A search on Google Maps confirmed the location of the estate in Abeokuta (archived here and here).
A photo on Google Maps, as well as Street View imagery, clearly identifies the complex as the Buhari estate.
Matching elements in the image published by the Premium Times include the black-and-white street paving, the entrance gate, the boundary wall, and the hill in the background with a tall mast.
Screenshot comparing the photo published in the report and an image from Google Maps, taken on September 24, 2026
In a follow-up post, one of the accounts responsible for misrepresenting the images said the photos were just for “inspiration” after other users pointed out the error in a community note (archived here).
Screenshot of the disclaimer published by the X account, taken on September 21, 2026
An internet search of the keywords “housing + project + kilifi+ county” led to the Boma Yangu website, managed by the Kenyan Ministry of Land, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development, and described as the “gateway” to Kenya’s Affordable Housing Programme (archived here).
Using the search feature on the website, AFP Fact Check found that none of the ongoing projects in Kilifi resemble the Buhari Estate in Nigeria.
Screenshot showing the ongoing AHP projects in Kilifi published on the Boma Yangu website, taken on September 21, 2026
AFP Fact Check has previously debunked claims related to projects by the Ruto administration, including one that claimed that a ship launch in India took place in Kenya.