Relief as Parliamentary Committee Makes Key Amendments to Ruto's Finance Bill

The Finance and Planning Committee of the National Assembly has handed Kenyans a reprieve after slashing the housing levy contribution by half.

President William Ruto has been at the forefront in pushing for the housing levy saying it will help create several jobs for Kenyans.

The committee in its recommendation to the Parliament proposed that the contribution be capped at 1.5 percent.

The committee reached the decision after going through tens of petitions from members of the public on several clauses that were deemed to be oppressive.

Addressing the press in Naivasha, committee chair Kuria Kimani exuded confidence that the bill would be accepted by parliament come Tuesday when it will be tabled.

The Molo MP said that they had looked into all the recommendations handed over to them and included them in the 137-page document.

“The committee has come to an agreement on all the clauses and made some amendments based on the petitions we got from members of the public,” he said.

Besides slashing the contributions, the committee also saved employers from contributing to the funds.

Treasury had suggested that if an employee contributes 3 percent, employers should too match with an equal amount.

At the same time, the committee has proposed a deferral of the deduction until January 2024 to allow for the formulation of relevant laws by the government.

The treasury had proposed the deduction to take effect from July 1st, 2023.

However, Kenyans should brace themselves for tougher times as the committee has retained the 16 percent VAT on fuel.

This would likely lead to a rise in fuel prices.