NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 30 – The government was on Tuesday urged to collaborate with universities and other tertiary institutions in constructing hostels to address their demands owing to the huge population of students.
The Technical University of Kenya (TUK) Vice Chancellor Benedict Mutua, emphasized to Members of the National Assembly that such a partnership would significantly contribute to closing the hostel gap.
Mutua made the comments while presenting his submission to the House Joint Committee on Finance and Housing regarding the Affordable Housing Bill, 2023, a bill that he supported.
“We need to provide hostels to the students,” he said adding that TUK in particular requires over 5,000 hostels to cater for its over 15,000 students. The university has only available space for 423 students.
He disclosed that the government had already allocated an adjacent piece of land to the university for expansion, adding that it was available for the Affordable Housing Program.
The Members of Parliament have been traversing different counties seeking views on the Bill that was born out of the need to create a comprehensive framework for the affordable Housing Program following a High Court order that declared the housing levy unconstitutional.
The Affordable Housing Bill 2023 has already undergone the First Reading.
The Affordable Housing Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 75 of 2023) sponsored by the Leader of the Majority Party, Kimani Ichung’wah, seeks to provide a legal framework for the establishment of the Affordable Housing Fund, access to affordable housing and to give effect to Article 43(1)(b) of the Constitution on the right to accessible and adequate housing.
The Bill further seeks to impose the Affordable Housing Levy to finance the provision of affordable housing and associated social and physical infrastructure.
The submission of the stakeholders before the committee comes even as the Court of Appeal on January 26, 2024, declined to lift the suspension of the Housing Levy, thereby preventing the government from collecting contributions from both employees and employers. President Ruto has vowed to appeal the ruling.
The Attorney General and National Treasury had petitioned the Court of Appeal to lift the suspension of the Housing Levy, imposed by the High Court in November 2023.
However, the Court of Appeal rejected their request, arguing that it’s in the “public interest” to wait for the determination of pending appeals against the High Court ruling.
“We direct that the appeals be heard expeditiously so that the issues raised in the appeals can be resolved with finality,” the judges ordered.
