The High Court has once again extended the suspension of the housing levy fund until June 10.
Labour Court Judge Maureen Onyango on Monday ordered consolidation of the 11 petitions challenging the levy for hearing and determination.
“All the 11 petitions on the matter currently filed will be consolidated to be heard together,” she said.
The fund seeks to deduct 1.5 per cent of the gross salaries of employees in the formal sector towards the government's affordable housing project.
Justice Onyango will also hear a suit on contempt of court filed by the Federation of Kenyan Employers against the Kenya Revenue Authority.
The FKE accused the revenue collector of issuing circulars directing employers to start deducting the 1.5 per cent of employees’ salaries by the end of this month while the court the suspension was active.
In April, the Labour Court issued temporary orders suspending the fund's implementation until a case opposing it was concluded.
Different parties, including the Central Organisation of Trade Union (Cotu), the Trade Union Congress of Kenya, the Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) and the FKE, have filed suits challenging the levy.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses and the Law Society of Kenya have also joined the suit.
The parties trash the levy, saying it will be burdensome to employees.
Cofek, through lawyer Henry Kurauka, filed an application challenging the implementation of the order. The deduction would have been enforced by the end of last month.
Kurauka said the notice violates the Constitution. There was no public participation and it doesn’t allow for cultural diversity, he says.
“The ministry has been planning without informing members of the public, particularly employees and those in informal settlements,” he said.
Kurauka said the Housing Fund levy is illegal, unconstitutional, discriminatory, oppressive, irrational and without basis and is not a priority to Kenyans.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
