The Mt Kenya Times 
Affordable Housing
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- During the campaigns, Dr William Ruto, the coalition’s presidential candidate, minced no word in assuring Kenyans that he would implement this plan to the letter and spirit.
- If Kenyans were opposed to this plan one would not have expected them to elect Dr William Ruto.
- The new Bill had been enacted by parliament as required by the law. The State had earlier scored big after it managed to convince the benches of the High Court and Court of Appeal to struck out the petitions filed by those opposed to the Housing plan.
- This had demonstrated the commitment of President William Ruto to walk the talk. His fidelity to the constitution has up to date remained beyond reproach.
A few days ago, a judge of the High Court directed that the six cases filed to challenge the affordable housing plan be consolidated.
This decision was informed by the fact that the grounds cited were similar.
The judge, however, declined to rule in favor of petitioners’ prayer to stop the government from implementing the project until the cases were heard and determined.
The cases were filed after President William Ruto signed the newly enacted Bill into law.
As expected, the government immediately filed a counter-suit.
As we know, the judges are always guided by the law, constitution and precedents in arriving at their final determinations.
Taking cognizant of the fact that the judges had already pronounced themselves on similar cases filed earlier, one would not expect them to contradict themselves.
The petitioners want Kenyans to believe that the affordable housing project is a function of the county governments.
But those who understand the law would disagree. The petitioners are taking Kenyans for a ride.
The function of housing is a shared responsibility between the national government and counties. This new law has addressed this issue.
After the President discharged his constitutional mandate and signed the new Affordable Housing Bill into law, one of the mainstream print media houses published a story titled ‘Ruto has his way’.
I’m sure many would agree with me that this headline was totally misleading.
It is the people of Kenya who had won but not President William Ruto.
Let me explain why? The plan to rollout affordable housing was one of the key highlights of Kenya Kwanza manifesto.
During the campaigns, Dr William Ruto, the coalition’s presidential candidate, minced no word in assuring Kenyans that he would implement this plan to the letter and spirit.
If Kenyans were opposed to this plan one would not have expected them to elect Dr William Ruto.
The new Bill had been enacted by parliament as required by the law. The State had earlier scored big after it managed to convince the benches of the High Court and Court of Appeal to struck out the petitions filed by those opposed to the Housing plan.
This had demonstrated the commitment of President William Ruto to walk the talk. His fidelity to the constitution has up to date remained beyond reproach.
As law making body, parliament kicked off the process by conducting public participation. After collecting and collating the views of the public, the relevant house committees drafted the bill. The bill later sailed through. Of 199 members present, 141 voted in support of the bill while 66 rejected it.
As required by the law, the bill have since been forwarded to the Senate for concurrence. It is now a new law after the President assented to it
I had earlier written an opinion piece in this column. These were my observations.
Just like his predecessors, President William Ruto is leaving nothing to chance in building and unveiling his legacy projects.
There is no doubt that the affordable housing plan is his signature legacy project.
One can therefore understand why the president would not take it lightly the initial move by the high court to suspend the implementation of the plan
He stated that this was the work of my political opponents. They are hell-bent on sabotaging and derailing my development agenda.
The corrupt judicial officers were helping them to have their way after bribing and compromising them.
Their machinations are bound to fail.
A few days later, the President held a meeting with Chief Justice Martha Koome and Speaker of national assembly Moses Wetangula. The Speaker joined them later.
Sources indicated that the President took unprecedented move when he declassified some intelligence reports which he shared with CJ. He disclosed that corrupt judges were working hand in hand with corrupt and rogue lawyers.
As the CJ, the buck stops with you. The people of Kenya expect you to tame members of your team. The corrupt riddled judges must be shown the door.
On his part, the President assured the CJ of his commitment to eradicate corruption in the executive.
The three-judge bench of Court of Appeal had earlier ruled in favor of an application filed by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu.
The bench had upheld the High Court order allowing the government to continue collecting the housing levy until an appeal is heard and determined.
The matter is still pending in court. So, the change of heart by the bench was bound to raise queries. Was the decision based on law or it was an escalation of the ongoing war. What has changed?
I had earlier listened to President William Ruto’s interview when he hosted journalists from different media houses at State House Nairobi.
One of the journalists told him. You rode to power on a platform of promising to respect and uphold the constitution and other laws of the land but today you are doing the opposite.
He cited the housing levy. The court declared this law unconstitutional but we have been hearing you maintaining that the levy is there to stay.
The President told him. What you are saying is not true. I have been walking the talk in terms of respecting the constitution and decisions of the courts.
On housing levy, you the people of the media are to blame for misinterpreting that ruling. The problem of unconstitutional was indeed created by you.
That is not what the bench of the three judges stated. The bench only took issue with what they termed as discriminative aspects of the law.
This is because it is only employed people whose salaries were being subjected to a deduction of 1.5 percent.
The Judges heard our prayers and allowed the government to continue collecting the levy until January next year. This will give you an opportunity to review and align this law. You would not have expected the judges to do this if the housing levy is unconstitutional.
When the judges delivered the ruling, President William Ruto stated. We believe in the rule of law. So, my government will fully comply with the orders issued.
We will take the necessary steps to ensure this law is aligned. Dr Ruto reiterated this during interview. He said that the majority leader Kimani Ichungwah have already drafted the bill and presented it to parliament.
The president further stated. The housing plan is a noble idea whose time has come. As I speak, It has created 120,000 jobs. The job opportunities are set to increase to 200,000 and 500,000 in coming days.
The mega project resonated very well with Ruto’s concept of bottom up economic model. It is designed to address two main challenges: joblessness and lack of decent houses.
The President announced that 250,000 affordable housing units will be constructed in the first phase.
He said the housing project is being opposed by those employed who received a payslip every month.
They do not want 1.5 per cent to be deducted from thier salaries.
The same case applies to the top leaders of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Opposition coalition.
Each one pockets a pension of more than 1 million from the National Treasury every month.
These are the same personalities who say they love you and were ready to die for you. Really, do they?
At the time, the Affordable Housing Plan was one of the proposals contained in the controversial Finance Bill 2023.
The ‘Hustlers’ (those without a payslips) had been excluded. The judges now say this is discriminatory.
President Ruto has been reiterating the affordable housing plan is a game-changer. For the first time in our history, the sons and daughters of the hustlers will own decent houses.
This will elevate them to the class of the wealthier and rich families.
Initially Ruto’s critics wanted Kenyans to believe that he was forcing the levy down their throat.
I totally disagree. The president had no legal mandate to pass this proposal into law. This power is exercised by parliament.
For starters, the government is made up of three main arms: parliament, executive and Judiciary.
Though each is independent, the law requires them to always embrace the principle of interdependence and complimentarity.
Majorly, the role of a Member of Parliament is three pronged: Legislation, oversight and representation.
The President was in fore front of drumming support for Finance Bill 2023. Does this amount to overstepping his legal mandate? No.
I would have expected Raila to be the last person to oppose this proposal. Why? During the campaigns, the house plan proposal stood out as one of his main election pledges.
If elected President, I will roll out a massive affordable housing plan. Majority of our people, who migrated to urban centers, were living in poor and highly deplorable conditions in slums. ‘My government’ will build decent houses for them. This is a commitment I have given to you.
Raila would add: A huge chunk of money to build these houses will come from our pockets. He would single out those employed, civil servants, state officers and other workers. The Government will deduct 1.5 per cent from the payslip of each. President Ruto’s administration is collecting the same amount.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
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