Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has come under fire after saying that monthly contributions to the Housing Levy do not guarantee home ownership. Wahome instead said that the deductions should be viewed as a tax. "The money you are contributing is not meant to give you a house; it is helping us build the houses.
After that, it is up to you to pay for the house," Wahome said on NTV, Wednesday. She explained that the government is not giving out free homes but facilitating a rent-to-own model. "We are not building and handing you a house.
We are building and allowing you to maintain it through rent.
It is like a tenant purchase arrangement, you rent to own," she said. Under the Housing Levy, salaried Kenyans contribute 1.5 percent of their gross income, with employers required to match the amount. "The deduction is a levy or tax.
