President William Ruto is at the centre of a brewing dispute between the Central Organisation of Trade Unions–Kenya (COTU-K) and the State Department of Housing over plans to divert billions of housing levy funds to the construction of other social amenities.
In a statement released on Saturday, June 7, COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli called for Ruto’s intervention to avert the potential crisis, with both sides accusing each other of perpetrating falsehoods.
“We are calling upon His Excellency the President, Dr William Samoei Ruto, to urgently intervene and ensure that the Affordable Housing Levy remains dedicated to delivering decent, dignified and affordable homes for Kenyans,” Atwoli stated.
The genesis of the dispute arose after COTU, on Tuesday, June 3, raised alarm over the redirection of affordable housing funds, which they argued would lead to misuse of the billions collected by the government.
Atwoli had warned that the new regulations could potentially introduce a loophole that would allow lawmakers to channel the funds into projects that could compromise the affordable housing plan. He argued that the diversion was being used to build amenities that are already being budgeted for in the National Budget, thus creating redundancy.
“If this trend persists, the affordable housing levy would soon be redirected to other development projects like the building of roads, dams, and other heavy expense projects while leaving workers exposed without decent housing,” he stated.
They argued that COTU, the umbrella body for Kenyan workers, was not consulted in the drafting of the new Affordable Housing Regulations, citing the massive contributions made by Kenyan workers to the housing levy.
However, on Friday, June 6, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga hit back at Atwoli’s claims, accusing him of misleading Kenyans. In his response, he disclosed that COTU, contrary to their claims of not being consulted, had taken part in forming the regulations.
“It came as a surprise to us, the statement by COTU, because COTU was one of the very few organisations that had the privilege of drafting the Act. They are actually represented in person,” Hinga stated.
In a new twist, COTU poured cold water on Hinga’s remarks, asserting that their representative’s role in the Affordable Housing Fund Board did not extend to making independent decisions on behalf of COTU.
Further, they challenged PS Hinga to provide written resolutions, minutes, or official correspondence from COTU’s Executive Board endorsing the drafting or content of the current regulations.
Aside from the alleged rivers and dams, the housing levy funds would be used to construct health facilities, pre-primary education centres, basic education centres, inferno stations, police posts, social halls, markets, and open spaces in the proposed regulations.
