Rev Sammy Wainaina slams Ruto’s housing levy: Not the government’s job!
By Wangu KanuriOutspoken Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) provost at All Saints Cathedral Reverend Sammy Wainaina has criticised President William Ruto’s housing levy plan.
In an interview with Citizen TV, Wainaina said the government’s job is to create an enabling environment for business and commerce to operate, not to build houses for its citizens.
Explaining that there are places in the country that are uninhabitable and that some roads are built and then abandoned halfway, Wainaina sympathised with the cases of some of the deplorable situations Kenyans live in.
“No government in the world builds houses for its citizens. Their job is to create an environment where business and commerce can operate, and then provide infrastructure.”
Also read: Ruto defends 3% housing levy as patriotic duty to Kenyans
In April, President Ruto announced that the government would strengthen the Housing Fund to help more Kenyans buy affordable homes.
He said that as the government rolled out the affordable housing programme, there would be a robust plan aimed at addressing the financing of low-income earners to consume the units.
As a result, Kenyans would contribute 3 per cent of their income and start their journey to home ownership.
“Any worker who contributes 3 per cent, the law will compel his employer to also contribute 3 per cent to the housing fund,” he offered.
In early May 2023, the Treasury then formally proposed amendments to the Labour Act to allow for three percent deductions from workers’ basic salaries to fund Dr Ruto’s ambitious plan to build low-cost houses.
Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u capped the proposed deductions, which employers will match at Sh5,000, largely re-introducing a policy that was rejected during the administration of outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The proposals in the Finance Bill 2023, which has been submitted to the National Assembly for approval, state that “the sum of employer and employee contributions shall not exceed Sh5,000 per month”.
This means that highly paid workers will contribute less than three percent of their basic monthly salary to the National Housing Development Fund if lawmakers approve the proposed amendments to the law.
Also read: Housing PS Charles Hinga sweats over new tax declaration