President Ruto's Housing Levy is constitutional - Court

The Tuesday ruling was made by justices; Olga Sewe, John Chigiti and Josephine Mongare.

They were handling the six petitions which have since been consolidated.

In the ruling, the judges said the Housing Levy was properly enacted.

The three-judge bench also said the Housing Levy was in accordance with the Constitution and that public participation was adequate.

"It is clear that the National Assembly and the Senate focused on stakeholders for the public participation. It cannot be denied that the public participation took place," the three-judge bench said.

"It is our finding that the levy is properly in place and in accordance with the Constitution."

The bench also disagreed with the petitioners who argued that the Housing Levy was discriminatory.

"It is therefore our finding that section 4 of the Affordable Housing Act is not discriminatory and does not infringe on Article 27 of the constitution," they said.

Chief Justice Martha Koome had appointed a three-judge bench to hear and determine a number of cases challenging the implementation of the new Affordable Housing Act.

One of the cases was filed by 22 Senators led by Busia's Okiya Omtatah.

The senators and seven other human rights defenders took issue with a section of the new Act that seeks to appoint the Commissioner General of KRA as the collector of the affordable housing levy, and sections 4 and 5 of the Act, which impose the levy.

On March 19, President William Ruto signed into law the Affordable Housing Bill 2023, paving the way for the reinstatement of the contentious housing levy deductions.

The new legislation ropes in workers in the informal sector in order for the regulations to be in agreement with the High Court ruling that rendered it unconstitutional last year.

Under this new law, Kenyans are now being deducted 1.5 per cent of their gross monthly pay.