NAIROBI, Kenya- President William Ruto has defended the 1.5 per cent Affordable Housing Levy, telling salaried Kenyans to consider the jobs he says the programme supports when debating deductions from their payslips.
“Those who are talking about the dignity of the payslip, we are lucky,” Ruto said.
“There are other Kenyans who can do the job you have today. Think about the dignity of the 1.1 million Kenyans out there who, today, can feed their families because you raised 1.5 per cent of your salary. That is how we should reason.”
The President’s remarks put the housing levy at the centre of a growing political dispute over the effect of statutory deductions on workers’ take-home pay.
Ruto has repeatedly defended the housing programme as a source of jobs as well as homes, and has said it employs about 1.1 million Kenyans.
Under the Affordable Housing Act, employees contribute 1.5 per cent of their gross salary to the levy, with employers required to make a matching contribution.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused the government of “raiding” workers’ payslips through deductions and has called for the housing levy to be suspended.
In August, he also urged the government to reduce PAYE tax bands to increase workers’ take-home pay.
Ruto’s argument centres on the programme’s employment impact, while critics, including Gachagua, say payroll deductions are placing pressure on workers.
The President urged salaried Kenyans to weigh their contribution against the livelihoods he says the housing projects have created.
