A few days after Francis Atwoli, the head of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU-K), raised concerns about potential loopholes that could lead to the misuse of billions collected through the housing levy, the government has issued a response, accusing him of spreading misinformation to the public.
On Tuesday, June 3, Atwoli claimed that newly adopted regulations by Members of Parliament could allow the housing levy funds to be diverted to projects unrelated to the Affordable Housing initiative.
Atwoli cautioned that the newly introduced regulations could create a loophole enabling legislators to divert the housing levy funds to other initiatives, potentially undermining the goals of the Affordable Housing plan.
He pointed out that although the regulations had been approved by Members of Parliament, they had not yet received final approval from the Attorney General, leaving the funds vulnerable to possible misuse.
In his statement, Atwoli expressed concern that the new Affordable Housing Regulations could mistakenly allow housing levy funds to be used for building facilities such as health centers, early childhood education institutions, basic education centers, fire stations, police posts, social halls, markets, and open public spaces — all under the broad category of “associated social infrastructure.”
However, responding swiftly on Friday, June 6, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga refuted Atwoli’s claims. Hinga clarified that COTU had, in fact, been involved in the development of the regulations, contradicting their assertion that they were not consulted during the process.
