NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 — The government has tabled a revised Affordable Housing Bill in the National Assembly including gross income earned by individuals outside formal employment among ratable earnings under the proposed Act.
The changes seek to resolve illegalities pointed out by the Constitutional Court which cited the singling out of salaried individuals as discrimination amounting to a constitutional violation in a ruling rendered on November 28.
Justices David Majanja, Christine Meoli and Lawrence Mugambi argued that by singling out the formal sector without justification, the law failed to conform to the principal of nondiscrimination.
“The levy against persons in formal employment to the exclusion of other non-formal income earners without justification is discriminatory, irrational, arbitrary and against the constitution,”Justice Majanja declared.
The revised Bill tabled on Thursday will establish the Affordable Housing Fund where monies collected under the Affordable Housing Levy will be held under the supervision of a Board.
The Bill proposes a Sh10 million fine for any person found to have misappropriated the Fund with penalties for non-remission of the levy set at 3 per cent of the unpaid amount for each month in arrears.
The legislative draft has also laid out the allocation criteria for houses build under the proposed Affordable Housing Fund with marginalized persons getting preference.
The draft clustered affordable homes into three; social housing, affordable housing, affordable market housing.
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