NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 12 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the National Treasury to engage the National Assembly in a bid to amend a legal provision providing for mandatory contribution by all employees to the Housing Levy Fund.
Speaking during the Jamhuri day celebrations held at the Nyayo Sports Complex on Thursday, the Kenyatta said Kenyans’ participation in the project cannot be achieved by subjecting employers and employees to forceful deductions.
The Head of State said the affordable housing project was created to address the housing shortage in the country.
“The implementation of the housing fund levy as a mandatory contribution for both the employee and employers has at every turn been fought with an avalanche of legal hurdles.
I have directed and ordered the ministry of the National Treasury as well as ministry responsible for housing to move to parliament for a revision of the legal requirement in respect of the housing fund levy to make the contribution voluntary and this should happen with immediate effect,” he said.
He said once the law is revised Kenyans wishing to take part in the affordable housing scheme will have an opportunity to own decent houses.
“The housing fund was one of the entitites through which the delivery of the ffordable housing prog shall be supported. The creation of the housing fund was informed by the need to bridge the gap between the have and the have nots by creating a framework through which the traditionally young banks can access finance towards home ownership.”
President Kenyatta unveiled the affordable housing pillar in his Big IV agenda with a target to put up some 500,000 affordable housing units by the year 2022.
The initiative has however faced numerous roadblocks following litigation by civil society actors, workers’ unions and Federation of Kenya Employers opposed to mandatory deductions of 1.5 per cent of workers’ salaries.
