State House on Monday announced the postponement of the signing of the Affordable Housing Bill into law....CONTINUE READING
Kenya Kwanza leaders including the Head of State had promised that after receiving nods at both the National Assembly and the Senate, the assenting was scheduled for March 18 to pave the way for the legacy project aimed at delivering 200,000 housing units every year.
Over the weekend, Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam sent out an invite to media houses, including Kenyans.co.ke, inviting journalists to attend the event expected to start at 8:00 am.
On Monday morning, however, the State House sent out a communique indicating that the event had been postponed but failed to reveal the new date.
Reports, however, showed that the event had been pushed to Tuesday, March 19. The Head of State had earlier assured a congregation in Bomet that he intended to sign the bill into law and pave the way for the implementation of the housing project that will see salaried and non-salaried workers part with 1.5 per cent of their gross income.
“On Monday, I will be signing into law the Affordable Housing Bill,” President Ruto announced during his tour on Saturday.
According to National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, who sponsored the bill, the State expedited the signing of the bill to target March payslips.
“We took the Housing Levy to Parliament and they passed it. I want to thank MPs,” stated Ichung’wah. “As soon as the bill is signed into law, deductions will resume and be made in accordance with the new Affordable Housing Act.”
Ruto’s efforts to cement the project’s delivery had suffered setbacks at the Judiciary’s doorstep after it was declared unconstitutional.
In one of the rulings, a judge explained that the deductions that had kicked off in July last year were unlawful since the state did not take the public’s comments into consideration before instituting the deductions.
Some of the amendments made to the bill included introduction of a penalty of 3 per cent for the unpaid amount imposed for each month that it remains unpaid. The Senate also sought to deter people from owning multiple units…CONTINUE READING>>
