A lottery system will be used during allocation of houses to Kenyans in the proposed government housing levy, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga has said.
Speaking on Tuesday night on Citizen TV’s NewsNight show, Hinga said the move is aimed at ensuring transparency in the proposed Affordable Housing Scheme under the Big 4 Agenda,
“…you need to register, start contributing and then there are different criteria such as household [income], health condition, the categories you would be put under; for instance, if you are in the social housing category, you can’t get a house outside the social housing bracket.
“Social housing people would be taken to one place and balloted. This is a lottery that is being talked about. You know why? Because we are trying to make sure that there is transparency, ” the PS said.
He said the government intends to build 500,000 houses by 2022 when President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure will come to an end.
PS Charles Hinga: One has to register and start contributing before a house is allocated to them. A lottery system will be used to determine who gets a house#NewsNight pic.twitter.com/UzJJaQ4ZNk
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 23, 2019
The housing levy has faced several hurdles with the recent one being the Labour Court’s move to suspend the 1.5 percent levy which was expected to begin in May.
A notice in the local dailies had indicated that employers were to deduct and remit the levy by 9th of every month.
The court said that the tax will stay on hold until the matter is heard on May 20 in a case filed by the Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK).
Read Also: Kenyans Gang Up Against Housing Fund Levy, Rage Online War
COFEK argued that the levy is not a priority as the country has more pressing matters including drought, rising cost of living and health challenges to deal with.
“The Housing Fund Levy is irrational because it does not factor the fact that some employees in private and public sector enjoy reasonable housing allowances and are members of home ownership schemes as part of their employment,’’ COFEK said in the application.
COFEK’s application was given a boost by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) who opposed the implementation of the levy.
The hearings are expected to begin on May 20.
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