Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria on Saturday, May 28, revealed that 30,000 Kenyans had already made contributions to President William Ruto's controversial housing scheme.
In a statement, the CS noted that as a result, the government had already collected Ksh1.8 billion that would go into the construction of more houses.
According to Kuria, the implementation of the levy, contained in the Finance Bill 2023, would benefit millions of Kenyans by creating job opportunities and transforming the country if all salaried workers would make contributions.
“Did you know that 30,000 Kenyans have been contributing to the Housing Fund already? They have raised Ksh1.8 billion already.
“Now we have 3 Million salaried workers in Kenya, by the same rule that's 18 Million jobs. Secede if you want but we must change this nation,” Kuria stated.
Further, he revealed that with proper preparation, he could easily multiply the amount to ksh45 billion by bringing in more investors.
“With gearing I can get investors to multiply this to Ksh45 billion of houses which is 25 times and 18,000 houses at a cost of Ksh 2.5 Million.
“Each house will create 10 jobs. That is 180,000 jobs right there just from a pool of 30,000 voluntary contributors,” he explained.
Kuria reiterated a statement by Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga on May 24, when he assured Kenyans that the government would raise Ksh1 billion every month if Kenyans contributed to the levy, an amount that would be given to investors as guarantee.
"I have got over 200 investors and all they are asking for is an off-take plan. All they want to know is how they will get their money back. It means I can go out there and call investors and tell them that as long as the law is there, I will be collecting money after three years," Hinga stated.
At the same time, the Chairman of the National Assembly Committee Kimani Kuria hinted the likelihood of the amendment of the bill because of the high number of entities that have rejected the bill during the public participation forums.
Only 10 out of 84 interest groups supported the bill which is set to be tabled in Parliament before June 15.
