PS Hinga accuses Raila of changing tune on housing levy after supporting it during campaign
State Department for Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga has accused the Azimio party and its presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga of changing their tune on the housing levy after supporting it during campaigns.
The PS said the party had relentlessly voiced its support for the housing levy during the campaigns and shouldn’t change its tune just because it lost the elections.
Speaking during an interview with Spice FM, PS Hinga recounted a meeting with the former Prime Minister way back in 2012 where they discussed the housing deficit in Kenya saying Raila was very passionate about the plight of Kenyans living in informal settlements in the Country.
According to the PS, a majority of Kenyans live in rentals not because they want but because they can’t afford to own.
“We may disagree on how we want to solve a problem but we must start by agreeing we have a problem. 4m Kenyans living in informal settlements. These are Kenyans living in places where they lack basic services, and when the Government comes up with a solution to the same, the affluent and wealthy want to decide for the less fortunate,” he said.
The government is pushing for the deduction of three percent of salaries for all workers to go towards the proposed KES 3.6 billion National Housing Development Fund.
The proposed levy has since kicked up a storm among workers.
PS Hinga said that while they are solving the housing deficit by ensuring decent and affordable units for Kenyans, they are at the same time addressing unemployment among the youth.
“Behind the program, behind the noise, there are people with testimonials. When you believe in something, you will help the likes of the 55 homeowners from Ngokomka who own houses in Parkroad,” he said.