Ruto Responds After Court Nullifies Housing Levy
Ruto Responds After Court Nullifies Housing Levy
Ruto Responds After Court Nullifies Housing Levy
On Tuesday, President William Ruto disclosed that the administration intends to reassess its policies following the High Court’s ruling that the Housing Levy and other sections of the Finance Act, 2023 are unconstitutional.
Speaking at the International Trade Union Confederation-Africa’s 5th Congress in Nairobi, Ruto said that while the government would accept the court’s decision, the housing initiative is crucial to the nation’s long-term goals, which include creating jobs.
In his statement, Ruto stated, “I know the court has said we should go and readjust the law to make it aligned appropriately, that, we are going to do.”President Ruto denied allegations made during his speech to the delegation that the housing project’s primary goal was to help the government rather than Kenyans as planned.
Ruto said, “I want to report to you that we have created 120,000 jobs from our housing plan in the last eight months.”The Head of State added that a bill to that effect was being passed in Parliament and that the administration planned to enhance digitalization through the establishment of Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) hubs.
The President stated that more Kenyans would be able to work in Germany as a result of a bilateral agreement between the two governments.This followed the High Court’s declaration on Tuesday that the contentious Finance Act, 2023 was unconstitutional in some places.
A three-judge panel made up of Justices David Majanja, Christine Meoli, and Lawrence Mugambi issued an order for the government to stop deducting the Housing Levy, citing constitutional violations, in accordance with the verdict.”The levy against persons in formal employment to the exclusion of other non-formal income earners without justification is discriminatory, irrational, arbitrary, and against the constitution,” the court said.
But hours later, the government’s request for stay orders was granted by the same court, enabling the government to retain the Housing Levy payments for a 45-day period.
