Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera has said that Kenyans are not convinced about affordable housing.
Speaking during an interview on K24, he said that a decision has to be made on how the affordable houses will be sustained.
“Kenya is not a welfare state because if it was, we would be talking about giving the houses for free. There is an issue of sustainability,” he said.
“In moving the country forward even if you listen to the contributions, they are still not convinced; that as much as you are collecting our money and doing houses on our behalf, we still don’t trust you.”
He added that the reason why the Bill was referred back to them was the constitutionality of it.
"The role of the national government is the policy on housing. Execution on how to do housing is a county function," he said.
He said that the government is not setting out policy but is trying to execute the Bill which can be achieved by asking the county government to sign a memorandum through the Council of Governors.
He said the government endorsement of the 1.5 per cent of the salaried employees and nonsalaried adding up to 3 per cent will be difficult.
His remarks came after the Majority Leader in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah's statement on February 20, that the housing levy will be back on March pay slips.
He assured President William Ruto that the Kenya Kwanza side would use its numerical advantage in the House to pass the Affordable Housing Bill.
On Tuesday, President William Ruto scored the first win in his quest to sustain funding for his affordable housing programme after the new bill passed the second reading in Parliament.
After split voting, 141 MPs cast their ballot in favour of the bill against 58 who opposed it.
“I now wish to announce the voting to the House. In a division on the second reading of the Affordable Housing Bill, 2023, the results are as follows; the ayes 141, the nays 58; total votes 199, abstentions nil, so the ayes have it,” Speaker Moses Wetang’ula said.
"Before we conclude this, I want first to thank all members for your decorum. Apart from the errant member for Budalangi, the rest of the members observed absolute decorum."
