MPs Take PS Hinga To Task Over The National Housing Development Fund
By Our Correspondent
Worth Noting:
- The legislators expressed concerns that very little information regarding the Fund whose date of commencement is set for July 1,2023 if the Bill is passed, had been relayed to those expected to be contributors.
- Committee members Joseph Makilap (Baringo North), Joseph Oyula (Butula), John Ariko ( Turkana South), Adipo Okuome (Karachuonyo) and Kitui North legislator David Mboni, wondered if the government had conducted enough research on the Housing model given that most rural folk already have their own homes or would not be open to living in skyscrapers.
- They told the PS that the model is not a good fit for pastoralist communities whose lifestyle is not matched by the crafting of the model.
Members of Parliament from the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning yesterday took the Principal Secretary, State Department of Housing Charles Hinga to task over the proposed National Housing Development Fund (NHDF).
PS Hinga was appearing before the Committee to make his submissions over the Finance Bill, 2023 during the ongoing public hearings on the proposed law.
The PS presentation to the committee was geared towards exhibiting the impact of the proposed Housing Fund which is expected to revolutionize the housing sector in the country.
He informed the lawmakers that the State Department has plans to set out 200 units per constituency, yielding about 58,000 units across the country.
He explained that the National Housing Program is expected to net over 108 billion per annum if lawmakers approve the provision for the establishment of the Fund as proposed in the Bill.
MPs however took issue with the PS over the confusion surrounding the question as to whether the proposed Fund is a voluntary contribution or a tax charged alongside the Pay As You Earn.
The legislators expressed concerns that very little information regarding the Fund whose date of commencement is set for July 1,2023 if the Bill is passed, had been relayed to those expected to be contributors.
Committee members Joseph Makilap (Baringo North), Joseph Oyula (Butula), John Ariko ( Turkana South), Adipo Okuome (Karachuonyo) and Kitui North legislator David Mboni, wondered if the government had conducted enough research on the Housing model given that most rural folk already have their own homes or would not be open to living in skyscrapers.
They told the PS that the model is not a good fit for pastoralist communities whose lifestyle is not matched by the crafting of the model.
The lawmakers also wondered why the State Department had not elected to use the Private-Public Partnership model to implement the project.
They observed that in the past, agencies under the Housing State Department had not been transparent enough on the projects they were undertaking and sought to know the measures the government had undertaken to entrench transparency and accountability in the proposed program.
They expressed fears that without a proper regulatory framework for the Fund’s management, the project would come a cropper.
While noting that the concept had more merits than demerits, they noted that it may have been conceived in a hurry and urged for its delayed implementation to allow time for proper planning.
“The reason why many projects fail in Kenya is because they are conceived and implemented in a hurry. There is need to delay the implementation of this program to allow more consultations and research to allow an accurate projection on its impact ”, observed Ariko.
The other concerns raised by members were if the government would be able to match its part of contribution (three per cent) for all public servants, what would be the impact of the Housing program on the real estate industry, and what would be the creteria for allocating the units.
On his part, the committee chairperson Kimani Kuria from Molo constituency noted that though the program has the potential to create employment and scale up consumption of building materials thus giving a shot in the arm to the manufacturing sector, there was need to first effect an amendment to the law to guarantee a housing relief as envisaged by the drafters of the Bill.
The PS had told the committee that those who are saving for home ownership will also get a tax relief of Sh8,000 per month, a provision that the chair noted would not be applicable to the Fund.
The PS did not however manage to respond to the members’ queries due to a prior engagement.
He was therefore granted leave but is expected to appear again before the committee before the end of the week-long public hearings.
