Secondary school teachers have joined other civil servants in opposing a proposal to introduce a three per cent monthly deductions to fund the Affordable Housing project.
Kuppet Deputy Secretary General Moses Nthurima said teachers only expect salary increments and not more deductions.
"The last time teachers got a pay rise was under 2016-21 CBA. But the benefits have been eroded by the 7.5 per cent pension, higher NHIF taxes and hyperinflation of the economy,"Nthurima said.
On Sunday, President William Ruto proposed a compulsory monthly deduction on all salaried Kenyans to the Housing Fund.
"To enable many Kenyans to buy houses under the affordable housing project, we have a housing fund to which we want every Kenyan to contribute three per cent of their income. If you earn Sh10,000, then three per cent is Sh300 every month," Ruto said.
Nthurima said teachers already have ways to access contributions to build houses.
He added that most teachers are predominantly rural and will not require urban homes.
"Under the new PSSS Act, teachers can access up to 40 percent of their pension contributions to build houses. They do not need a new tax for housing development," he said.
The PSSS is administered by a Board of Trustees regulated by the RBA and covers civil servants, teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission, National Police Service, Prisons Service and National Youth Service and any other service determined by the Cabinet Secretary under PSSS Act.
Members of this new contributory scheme comprise employees serving on permanent and pensionable (P&P) terms of service and are aged below 45 years as of January 1, 2021.
New employees who join the service on or after January 1, 2021, on P&P, and employees whose services were transferred to the county government and are currently covered under the Public Service Pension Scheme.
The teachers also raised concerns about non-remitted contributions to the PSSS by the government
"As of today the government is 8 months in arrears on its 15 per cent contribution and several months late in remitting the 7.5 per cent which is already deducted," he said.
The teachers have warned against the adoption of the proposal saying it will be costly to civil servants.
A similar plan by the government to raise funds for the construction of 500,000 housing units annually was stopped in 2018 by the Employment and Labour Relations court.
Employees were to contribute 1.5 per cent of their earnings to the scheme.
The courts argued that there was no public participation undertaken and that transparency in its implementation was not guaranteed.
