All workers must contribute to the housing fund, Ruto
Ruto defends the deduction of the 3% housing fund maintaining that every government worker must contribute to the kitty
Ruto defends the deduction of the 3% housing fund maintaining that every government worker must contribute to the kitty.
In response to criticism of the program, President William Ruto emphasized that all employees must contribute to the Housing Fund, rejecting their concerns and pointing out that even those who own homes or pay mortgages must make contributions to assist low-income earners in purchasing homes.
He also criticized workers’ representatives who have opposed the mandatory 3 percent levy from workers’ salaries and a matching contribution from their employers – capped at Sh5,000 per month – accusing them of representing employers’ interests.
The President also referred to the National Housing Development Fund as a “hustler’s mortgage” and whipped MPs to pass the proposal in the Finance Bill 2023, which aims to provide low-income Kenyans with the opportunity to own a home.
“Every MP and MCA has a mortgage, let’s now plan the hustler’s mortgage and we will plan it in the housing fund. We want to put all our money together so that we can create an opportunity for ordinary citizens to also have an opportunity to get a mortgage,” said Ruto.
He was speaking while presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Lapfund Bellevue Park Residence Project in Nairobi, where 2,350 housing units will be built under the affordable housing programme.
Explaining to workers why the fund will benefit them at the expense of their employers, he urged them to force their employers to contribute.
“If you contribute Sh1,000 as an employee, your employer will also contribute Sh1,000 and the total of Sh2,000 will be yours. So immediately, even before you start, you are doubling your money by making sure that you force your employer to contribute towards the purchase of a house that you will call home,” Ruto said.
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The President also attacked workers’ representatives who have opposed the levy – which, if passed, will be compulsory for all workers and employers – asking, “If you are a workers’ representative and you don’t give workers the opportunity to own a house and get contributions to buy their houses (from their employers), are you representing the interests of the workers or the interests of the employers?”.
He also insisted that workers who earn high salaries and are able to service high mortgages must help those with fewer resources to secure home ownership.
“The way to ensure that the ordinary Mwananchi can secure a house that they can own based on their low income of Sh4,000 or Sh5,000 is to ensure that we do it together. If you can afford a Sh20,000 mortgage, you should also support the low-income earners to afford Sh4,000 or Sh5,000,” the President said.
He accused some leaders in his camp of plotting to sabotage the scheme, suggesting that they were aware of its planned implementation during the pre-election campaigns.
Ruto said the government’s plan is to increase the proportion of affordable houses built in the country from the current 1 percent of all houses built annually to half of all houses while increasing the number of houses built annually from 50,000 to 200,000.
“The contribution you make to the housing fund is not a tax, it’s your money,” he said.
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