Ruto To Deduct Salary For All Govt Employees

President William Ruto on Sunday, April 23 announced that all civil servants will have 3 per cent of their salary deducted, which will be channelled towards contributions to the Housing Fund.

Speaking during a church service at Friends Church (Quakers) in Donholm, Nairobi, the Head of State explained that the deductions will help Kenyans in accessing affordable housing with ease.

He however did not reveal when the mandatory deductions would start to take effect.

President William Ruto and Prime Cabinet Secretary (CS) Musalia Mudavadi at Friends Church (Quakers) in Donholm, Nairobi on April 23, 2023. /WILLIAM RUTO

"Every Kenyan will be able to contribute 3 per cent of their salary towards affordable housing. For every 3 per cent someone saves, the employer will be required by law to save an extra 3 per cent.

"As a government, we will be at the forefront in implementing this. For all employees of the government - approximately 700,000 - we will be saving 3 per cent for them after they have made their own 3 per cent contribution," the President announced.

Explaining his reason for civil servants to set aside 3 per cent from their salaries for the contributions, Ruto said that "So that we can create a fund that will assist people of Kenya to acquire homes."

The Head of State went further to state that Kenya had 40,000 mortgages and that under his administration, the amount would go up to 2 million in line with Kenya's economy.

The Kenya Kwanza government is also targeting to build over 200,000 affordable housing units by 2027 to benefit up to 3 million households, with the President revealing that his government had already built 30,000 affordable housing units in Nairobi.

"In the next two weeks, I will be in Makongeni to start construction of an extra 30,000 units. We have a plan to be constructing 100,000 affordable houses every year in Nairobi," he promised.

The President also expressed his delight at the increased National Social Security Fund (NSSF) monthly contributions, which is a change from the Ksh200 monthly contributions that were previously in place.

"I am happy that we did away with the law that required Kenyans to contribute Ksh200 towards NSSF. Starting two months ago, contributions are pegged at 6 per cent of everyone's salary," the President stated.

The salary deductions come despite a salary crisis hitting government institutions hard, which has seen civil servants, as well as Members of Parliament (MP), witness salary delays.

Narok Senator Ledama Olekina on Wednesday, April 12 warned of a scenario whereby nurses, doctors, contractors and civil servants as a whole would protest owing to the ongoing salary crisis consisting of stalemates and late payments that have generated debate between the opposition and the government.

The salary crisis that has hit government institutions across the board struck the nerve of the medics, with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) giving the government seven days ultimatum to disburse the funds, failure to which health workers should not report to work.

Public health services were thereafter paralysed in four counties following a doctors' strike in the devolved units, with medics in Vihiga, Bomet, Kisumu and Nyamira counties downing tools on Wednesday, April 19, protesting salary delays and employers failing to remit statutory deductions. 

Consequently, patients who sought medical attention in the aforementioned counties were turned away, with some resorting to private hospitals.