State has no business forcing us to pay for houses we do not need
I have no interest in investing in a government-issued house. I don't wish to be part of their Housing Fund.
I certainly don't want to pay the proposed 3 per cent Housing Fund Levy. My income is mine and the government should not touch it with strange levies. Making the levy mandatory “tupende tusipende” is outrageous. Those who like it can pay for it. It should be strictly optional.
Buying a house is a very personal thing. It's like getting a wife. You want what suits you, when you are ready, not what some bureaucrat thinks you need. Only a government with ulterior motives intrudes into such private prerogatives. Suppose I am paying a mortgage?
Why should the government burden me with another housing charge that I don't want? Will those who buy into the Housing Fund have a choice of the kind of house they want to be built for them? Every person has a preference as to what sort of house he wants to live in.
Not everybody wants to be lumped into some government housing scheme which resembles a crowded dormitory. People want to enjoy their own space. They want houses that reflect their own design and taste.
Among the initial houses, the government put up as part of this housing scheme were in the Shauri Moyo area of Nairobi. But suppose somebody doesn't want to live there? Or to own a house there? Or whatever other place they erect the houses?
Suppose one wants to put up his desired house in his rural shamba in Kitui, Murang'a, or Vihiga, or on a plot of land in Kitengela. Suppose he has already built one there?
People have their preferred specifications when they buy or build houses. Such issues like cost, location, style, size and so on come into consideration. Some prefer their 'mbao' houses, others brick ones, and there are those who are quite happy with their 'mabati' shacks.
This government has this misguided view that it can compel Kenyans to save. Yet this is a private decision best left to the individual. We must never allow Kenya to be turned into a nanny State, which could soon be telling you when to marry and start a family.
The State has no business telling me how or when to save, much less forcing me to save with its suspicious schemes. Besides, there are more attractive options for saving and growing one's money in the private sector through such offerings as money market funds and equities.
Property development institutions
You can also put your money in reputable private-sector property development institutions. (Well, not the shady ones that have milked people dry of their money). The good ones are transparent, compared to the opaque manner in which the government ‘invests’ your funds.
The government is talking about constructing 200,000 “affordable” units annually. If you believe all these houses will be built, you could be ripe for induction into Paul Mackenzie's cult. By the way, who are the contractors? Since the money will be collected from employees and employers, have the right policy and accountability structures been set up?
If not, subscribers will be sinking their cash into a black hole. Another thing: Say your salary is Sh30,000. At 3 per cent, your monthly deduction (plus your employer's contribution) comes to Sh1,800. The total accumulated sum in 10 years will be Sh216,000. Where in Kenya will you get a decent house at that price?
Make no mistake, the government's Number One priority is to create a pool of money from which it can borrow cheaply. Housing is probably just incidental. The government is broke and has huge debts to pay. It will clutch at anything it can suck money from. The same game is being played with NSSF.
This government, in one of its swiftest and keenest executive actions, hiked the monthly NSSF deduction for every salaried individual. The same was done with NHIF contributions (are you expecting any corresponding improvement in public healthcare services?). These two funds collect colossal amounts of cash. However, who doesn't know how these billions have been targets of plunder in the past?
A corrupt politician grabs an obscure chunk of public land he's keen to profit with. The NSSF is arm-twisted to buy it at an obscenely inflated price. It ends up as a dead investment for the fund, and worthless for pensioners. In 1992 the fund was raided massively by a YK'92 honcho for a housing project (aha!) that ended up being a hot mess.
We pay NSSF a monthly subscription because it is compulsory for everybody with a payslip. Otherwise, those who can afford it have alternative private pension plans. The equally misused NHIF has faced problems that are not dissimilar. If civil society was as energetic as during the previous government, the worrying increases in salary deductions for these two funds would have been vigorously challenged in the courts.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission must — must — keep an eagle eye on how these funds are administered. First, because it's public money, and second because the pot has grown bigger as the contributors pay more. The same scrutiny must be trained on this Housing Levy. Kenyans have short memories.
Remember the Hustler Fund? Where exactly does the savings component go? An escrow account? An investment venture? A government account? Where? Can somebody withdraw his savings on demand? Cooperatives CS Simon Chelugui used to give weekly updates on Hustler loan applications and disbursements. But he never touched on where the savings went. Today even those frequent updates are rare.
To fund the Sh3.64 billion budget for the 2023/24 financial year, this government will tax everything. It has grandiose expenditure plans. They'd rather tax you to death than halt those plans until the country's finances recover. When you overtax recklessly, you impede capital accumulation. That will kill the economy. BY DAILY NATION
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