Housing fund to take 3pc of salary

President William Ruto during the official opening of a new sanctuary at the Friends Quakers Church in Donholm estate, Nairobi. [PCS, Standard] President William Ruto has announced plans for Housing Fund that will see Kenyans contribute three per cent of their income which will be matched by their employers to enable them buy homes. The Head of State, who was speaking during the official opening of a new sanctuary at the Friends Quakers Church in Donholm estate, Nairobi on Sunday , said that the contribution will enable the approximately 700,000 civil servants to own houses under the affordable housing project. "Every Kenyan will be able to contribute three per cent of their salary towards affordable housing. For every three per cent someone saves, the employer will be required by law to save an extra three per cent," he said. "As a government, we will be on the forefront in implementing this. For all employees of the government - approximately 700,000 - we will be saving three per cent for them after they have made their own three per cent contribution," he added. He noted that currently there are one million mortgages with the government working towards increasing this to two million. "Most Kenyans live in dilapidated houses, we are planning to have 100,000 new affordable houses for urban dwellers annually so that they can afford to pay between Sh4,000 and Sh10,000 and in 15 years own the houses in efforts to ensure decent living conditions for citizens," said Ruto. The President assured Kenyans that the government has put in place drastic measures to address the economic challenges facing the country. He said two million farmers have gotten subsidized fertilizer and the only way to ensure food security is for citizens to farm. He said the cost of unga has started going down and reiterated that demonstrations and carrying cooking pans on the head is not a solution to the high cost of living. "We are out to turn around the country for the better, current challenges in the country being short lived, let us all do our part in making this country great again, when we took over government the price of maize flour was Sh230 per packet, currently it is down to Sh159," he said. The President noted that the Gross Domestic Product stands at 8 per cent and is expected to grow to 40 per cent in order for Kenya to be at the same level with some of the fastest developing countries in the world. He revealed that the national government is working with the Nairobi county government to restore the glory of the city and already Sh1 billion has been set aside to help in waste management that will be used to generate electricity. Negative ethnicity The President said he was happy that the government and opposition leaders are always in church every Sunday bearing in mind the wonders God did in the last General Election that was peaceful and was devoid of negative ethnicity. "I am honoured to learn that the Friends Quaker Church is led by the Presiding Clerk bearing in mind that at one point I was labelled a clerk and I am now the Presiding Clerk of the country and I am also called a friend by some people and I am proud to be associated with Friends church," he said. Ruto noted that churches have been reliable partners in matters education, health, governance and development and promised that his administration will work with them for the good of the country. Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the Head of State has a huge task to turn around the economy and it will require prayers. "Nobody should distract the President as he does his work. He cannot deal with other people's emergencies, he has a huge responsibility of putting this country on the right track bearing in mind that matters were getting out of hand when he took over office, he is trying his level best as far as I know," said Mudavadi. Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that the county has managed to increase revenue collected by Sh673 million in the last three months due to support of the President and they have managed to pay salaries on time. "I can confirm that all public hospitals in the city have drugs after we made purchases worth Sh244 million while we have so far paid Sh80 million of the historical debt of Sh185 million owed to the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency in our efforts to improve health care," he said. He revealed that recruitment of 3,500 cleaners in the city is ongoing.

Housing fund to take 3pc of salary

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