COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli has given the government one condition for him to support the contested housing levy tax.
Speaking during a shop stewards meeting at COTU headquarters in Gikomba, Nairobi on Saturday, the outspoken leader revealed that he would not support the proposed 1.5% housing levy until the state increased workers wages by 15 per cent.
He, however, divulged that the entire project was in good faith since it would benefiting Kenyans the most.
“The housing fund is a good thing. This is a good deal as you will come out as beneficiaries.
"I told the government that they should give us the 15 percent wage increase in exchange for the implementation of the new levy," he stated.
This is a significant shift since the leader opposed the levy in 2018 claiming, at the time, that it was unconstitutional since the state had not sought for the input of the public.
He had also argued that the project was unrealistic considering that the number of people who would be making the contributions more than doubled the houses that were to be constructed.
“We have 2.5 million workers in formal employment who are set to contribute to the fund and the government’s target is to build one million houses within the next four years. How long will it take to cater for all workers and what will be the criteria for allocating one a house?” stated Atwoli at the time.
This comes just days after Principal Secretary (PS) State Department for Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga, revealed that the houses would be issued out to citizens through a national lottery.
The PS stated that one had to register and start making monthly contributions as mandated by the government and that homeowners would be determined using the lottery system in order to give each one a shot at owning a house.
