Kenyan workers earning Sh100,000 and more monthly will now benefit from the Housing Development Fund in a review of the plan, giving the top earners hope that their hefty contributions of 1.5 percent would make sense. Indeed, the previous plan of refunding the contribution to those earning Sh100,000 and above was absurd.
It meant that many contributors were destined to miss out on the affordable homes and mortgages plan.
Although the start-date is unclear, the U-turn reveals that the government is all-ears and was keenly monitoring the unfolding events ahead of its roll-out of the plan that both workers and employers have opposed. Both went to court and got orders halting its launch on the grounds that it is costly and the board was not a product of consultations.
On the latest development, we encourage the government and other stakeholders to continue refining the plan such that when deductions are finally made, all the contributors will be getting the much-needed value for money.
Kenya cannot afford to continue with a project that will, in one way or another, be considered discriminatory, costly and untimely just because it was ill-conceived and its architects refused a review for appreciable results, impact and purpose.
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