Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - National Assembly
Finance Committee Chairman and Molo MP Kimani Kuria has admitted to the
inadequacy of the proposed Housing Bill seeking to bolster President William
Ruto's Affordable Housing project.
Speaking during an interview, Kimani admitted that the law
was ambiguous and did not narrow down on what kind of income for unemployed
Kenyans was targeted for the levy.
He further concurred with the Court of Appeal ruling's
conclusion that without involving the non-salaried in the levy, it would be
discriminatory.
"As a legislator, I respect the interpretive arm of
Government. (According to the court ruling on levy) the housing levy was
discriminatory because it was only targeting the employed and not the
unemployed," he explained.
"The Housing Levy lacked a legislative framework
because every levy in this country that is collected actually has an act of
Parliament that backs it. In my personal view, if the contribution has to be
non-discriminatory, the fund has to be contributed by those who are salaried
and those who are not."
He argued that whereas the bill was clear on the 1.5 per
cent deductions for the salaried, the self-employed and individuals with other
sources of income were not covered.
According to Section 4 of the Bill, "The levy shall be
at the rate of 1.5 per cent of the gross salary of an employee or the gross
income of a person received or accrued that is not subject to the (housing levy
deducted from the salaried)"
However, Kuria explained that the ongoing public participation
exercise was aimed at clarifying the anomaly, to specify the type of income
covered.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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