The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers-Lamu branch has rejected the 3 per cent Housing Fund monthly deduction proposal.
The Finance Bill 2023, seeks to impose a raft of levies that will see salaried employees deducted 3% of their salary which will be matched by employers but not exceed Sh5,000 of their salaries to the Housing Fund to support the affordable housing project.
They especially picked issue with a section of the Bill that proposes a 3% housing levy deduction of gross earnings into the National Housing Development Fund.
The new statutory deduction is expected to further eat into employees’ net take-home pay with the Housing ministry expected to create criteria for persons qualifying for affordable housing.
On Sunday, the Kuppet-Lamu executive secretary Edward Mbuthia stated that their members had not received a salary increment and therefore any deduction will directly affect their morale and throw them into a financial crisis.
He said such will also cause most of them to end up receiving only a third of their basic salary which is against the law.
Mbuthia said more than 80 per cent of their members had acquired loans from banks and saccos to build decent homes and are currently servicing the loans.
He said they are no longer in need of more houses than they already have.
“It will be immoral for the government to levy 3 per cent of our salaries in the name of building us houses which we already have,” Mbuthia said.
Mbuthia complained that the government recently implemented 7.5% deductions for public service super annuation scheme-PSSS on teachers’ salaries which automatically reduced their net pay.
The official stated that with the hard economic times the country is currently facing it was becoming impossible for members to meet the basic needs of their families.
He said therefore any further deductions will trigger depression among the members.
“I therefore on behalf of Kuppet members in Lamu submit that we have totally rejected the Financial Bill 2023 that intends to have members deducted 3 per cent towards the Housing Levy," Mbuthia said.
The Bill is currently under consideration in the National Assembly.
