It Is A Bad Idea- CEO Dresses Down PS Hinga On Housing Fund
According to Owino, the spirited push by the government to have the housing plan in place was attributed to commitments it needed to fulfil to contractors
Marvin Chege 
Institute for Economic Affairs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kwame Owino on Wednesday, June 7 gave Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary (PS) Charles Hinga a torrid time in his defence of the National Housing Levy proposed in the Finance Bill, 2023.
Speaking during the Big Conversation debate hosted by Citizen TV, Kwame insisted that the levy was a "bad idea" and that Kenyans should not be swayed easily to accept it.
According to Owino, the spirited push by the government to have the housing plan in place was attributed to commitments it needed to fulfil to contractors and other beneficiaries of the controversial Housing program.
“Kenyans…anybody who has the chance to listen to me, I am not an elected member of parliament, am not seeking election and I don’t work for the government. Let me tell you, this is a bad idea.
Institute for Economic Affairs CEO Kwame Owino. /THE STAR
“We are defining this problem wrong because the PSs (Principal Secretaries) have made commitments to people who are supposed to construct houses and give them free land to do that,” Owino argued.
The CEO argued that President William Ruto's administration was not telling Kenyans the entire truth regarding its proposals, which are rumoured to benefit the well-off in society.
“The PS (Hinga) said that they already have people whom they call investors but are not putting their own money, but the investors are being told to construct with the certainty that this fund will cover the risk by paying them.
“Government is being taxed at 11% or 12% today; so what the government is doing is taxes are being used to redistribute, which is not a bad thing. But let us not redistribute money among Kenyans through lies," he deconstructed the proposed levy.
Owino had recommended that private investors would have first built the houses and assurance be accorded to the contractor who successfully completes the project before swinging in to implement the Fund, which involves 3 per cent mandatory contributions.
“If the fund was a good idea, the same private investors we are talking about would not need the government, they would say, let us construct the houses and then anyone would off-take, meaning, certainty is being provided to whoever does the construction we have an off-take plan,” he explained.
“Why is this money important, so that a fund is created, which they are calling a fund that helps to cover that risk so that whoever constructs is assured the government would offtake…It is actually not a funding scheme; it is a financial structure that is being called a fund.”
During the same interview, Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria noted that the Affordable Housing programme is a project that will be spearheaded by the county governments and not necessarily the national government.
“The conversation is missing a point, the government is not the owner of this program, it is going to be implemented in the counties.
“It is actually the 47 governors who are the owners of the program because we are going to have all the counties earmarked land and projects for the affordable housing project in all corners of the country irrespective of the political persuasion," Kuria disclosed.
While citing the recent visit by President Ruto to Homa Bay County, Kuria asserted that the programme is meant to improve the livelihoods of all Kenyans and should be welcomed by everyone.
Asked why the conversation was revolving around the president, his deputy and members of parliament and not necessarily debated by county bosses, the CS responded by stating that it is the governors who should be put on the spot whether they want development in their regions or not.
"You as the media should ask the governors if they want jobs for their people or not. Ask them if they don’t want their youths to secure employment, for carpenters, builders, are there no people in your area who live in slums?" he challenged.
