The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the Affordable Housing Bill after the third reading, in a step that grants President William Ruto a first round victory as he seeks to push through his legacy action plan.
MPs passed the piece of legislation, with amendments by a simple majority.
Subsequently, the Affordable Housing Bill is now slated for consideration by the Senate for concurrence as certain components of the proposed amendments pertain to the jurisdiction of county governments.
"I want to give you the following guidance. The Majority Leader and Minority Leader, you are both right. This is a Bill that concerns counties... So from here, the Bill will go to the Senate," National Assembly speaker, Moses Wetangula stated on February 15.
The Bill was tabled afresh with amendments for a second time in Parliament following an initial court order rejecting and terming it unconstitutional.
Earlier, during the hearing, some Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) MPs staged a walkout.
Right outside Parliament in a press briefing, the MPs argued that all their proposed amendments were rejected by the House, claiming that the exercise was flawed.
On February 16, while touring Mt. Kenya region with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, President William Ruto urged the MPs to pass the Bill once it was brought before them.
"I want to tell the Members of Parliament that they should pass the Housing Bill, the one the court asked us to pass. By Tuesday, we are supposed to have finished so that the unemployed youths get jobs. The MPs should pass the Housing Bill early in the morning and they should not ask questions," Ruto stated.
Meeting with Ruto at a Cabinet Secretaries' retreat in Naivasha on January 19, Majority leader, Kimani Ichung'wah, assured the President that the Bill would be implemented before the March payslips are processed.
“Your Excellency I’m happy to report we began debate last week on Thursday, we were not able to conclude and hopefully we should be able to conclude that tomorrow afternoon,” Ichung'wah stated.
Kenyans are still awaiting refunds for the deductions made since the implementation of the Bill until the time the court declared it null and void.
