President William Ruto reiterated his commitment to leading by example by contributing to the proposed housing levy under the Affordable Housing Programme on Sunday.
President Ruto stated during a Thanksgiving service in Kakamega that he will stick to his plan to provide affordable housing to Kenyans living in deplorable conditions.
According to President Ruto, the plan will address the country’s housing, employment, and manufacturing challenges.
“Nimesema nitakua mstari wa mbele ya kutoa hio 3% ndio tupange ajira ya watoto wa Kenya. Tukisema tutoe 3% ya mshahara tunalipwa na hawa wananchi kwa ajili ya housing vijana milioni moja wapate ajira. Mtu anakwama na 3% kwani huna utu?” he posed.
“Na yule anayeitisha hio 3% ni yule amekuajiri [na] anakulipa 97% anasema ubaki na hiyo hawa watoto tuwapangie ajira.”
Working from a model used by Singapore to provide decent housing for their citizens, President Ruto added that Kenya must also follow suit and tighten the belt to implement the plan, despite opposition from some Kenyans.
“Singapore was a slum just like Kibera and today they are a first world nation because they planned their housing. If you want us to be like Singapore or even better we must make the decisions they made,” he said.
“We must make tough decisions like Singapore did.”
The housing levy contribution by employers and employees has been reduced from 3% to 1.5% and will go into effect as soon as the President signs the Finance Bill 2023, once approved by Parliament.
On June 14, the bill went through the Second Reading stage in the National Assembly, with 176 Members of Parliament in favour and 81 opposed.
