President William Ruto now says that the Affordable Housing programme will continue as planned, despite a ruling by the Court of Appeal on Friday, January 26.

The head of state, speaking in Meru few hours after the ruling, denounced the appellate court’s decision to halt the collection of housing levy.

“Housing mnasema iendelee ama isiendelee? Wale wanasema housing iendelee nione kwa mikono. Si nyinyi ndio kusema Kenya hii. Kuna public participation kuliko hii yenu?  Amri yenu ndio amri ya Mungu. Kwa hivyo mimi niko na amri ya kutosha na nitasongesha (housing) mbele,” President Ruto said.

According to Ruto, the courts should have given his administration time to conclude on the necessary law that should govern the programme.

“I want to say for the avoidance of doubt we are already making the law that the court authorised that we go and make. They should have given us a chance to complete the law… and make sure we create opportunities for jobs for the young people of our country,” he added.

Appellate court ruling

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal rejected government’s appeal against a temporary block imposed by the High Court on the controversial 1.5% Housing Levy.

The court maintained that the levy was introduced without the legal framework, unfairly targeting Kenyans working in the formal sector.

“The trial Court held that the Housing Levy was introduced without a legal framework. It also held that the levy was targeting a section of Kenyans. In our view, public interest lies in awaiting the determination of the appeal,” the Court of Appeal ruled.

Ruto has vowed to press ahead with the controversial project, insisting that he has the greenlight from Kenyans.

“Your say is God’s say. So I have enough directive and I will push this housing programme forward.”