- The National Assembly's joint committee on Finance and National Planning and Housing and Urban Planning concluded public hearings on the affordable housing bill.
- On Thursday, the MPs debated the report and rejected the proposal by the government for persons seeking to deposit 10 per cent of the value.
President William Ruto has urged Members of Parliament to pass the new Housing Bill in Parliament.
The President said that Kenyans who are unemployed are waiting for the Bill to pass in Parliament.
Speaking on Friday, Ruto urged the MPs to pass the Bill or else be blamed for unemployment in the country.
"Mimi naambia hawa wabunge, ile sheria iko bunge ambayo ni ya Housing, ile kortini ilisema tupitishe. Tunataka by Tuesday iwe imekamilika vijana ni wengi wanataka kuenda kufanya kazi. Wabunge wapitishe sheria asubuhi na mapema na wawache maswali mingi," he said.
(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).
In January, the National Assembly's joint committee on Finance and National Planning and Housing and Urban Planning concluded public hearings on the affordable housing bill.
The bill sponsored by Majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah seeks to provide a legal framework for the establishment Affordable Housing Fund and give effect to the right to accessible and adequate housing as provided for in the Constitution.
On Thursday, the MPs debated the report and rejected the proposal by the government for persons seeking to deposit 10 per cent of the value.
The joint committees on Finance and that of Housing have recommended the clause providing for the deposit be deleted.
"The committee noted stakeholders' concerns and agreed to delete the amount of 10 per cent as a deposit and further recommend that the deposit amount be prescribed in the regulations," the committee said in a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
In January, the Court of Appeal declined to suspend orders barring the state from deducting housing levy from Kenyans.