Will Kenyans achieve their dreams under President uhuru’s Big 4 Agenda?
A senior government official has told Kenyans they have to pay President Uhuru Kenyatta’s housing levy fund whether they like it or not since they elected the Jubilee government.
“The fact that you elected them, you knew that they made a commitment and so they have got to fulfil it.”Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said.
Asked why the government wants to force even people who already own houses or those who have taken mortgages, Mr Hinga said they can as well bequeath their units to their servants or relatives.
PS Charles Hinga: The fact that the Jubilee gov’t was elected, people knew that it had promised in its manifesto housing through a public-private partnership (PPP) system#NewsNight@HusseinMohamedg pic.twitter.com/WcQSCmTPOs— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 23, 2019
“The housing fund levy is a contribution because if you do not get a house, you can assign your contribution to your son, daughter or relative. It gives you a direct benefit which a tax doesn’t,” said Mr Hinga.
PS Charles Hinga: One has to register and start contributing before a house is allocated to them. A lottery system will be used to determine who gets a house#NewsNight pic.twitter.com/UzJJaQ4ZNk— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 23, 2019
The government intends to deduct 1.5 per cent from about three million salaried employees to fund construction of 500,000 houses before Jubilee Party’s term ends.
“One has to register besides contributing before a house is allocated to them. A lottery system will be used to determine who gets a house,” said Mr Hinga. Mr Charles Hinga, the Principal Secretary for Housing, is the public face of the plan by the government to introduce the controversial housing levy.
One major concern from Kenyans with respect to the housing levy is the that the money collected is relatively small in absolute terms, such that it may take 50 to 100 years for individual contributions to rise to the value of a two-bedroom house.
Another concern is that some employees are nearing retirement age and deducting housing levy for them is simply making them incur additional tax that many feels will not really benefit them.
Sort of making a financial contribution into some big dark hole; the type of hole that politicians love raiding when campaign time kicks in.