President William Ruto’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) projects are among projects that have suffered budget cuts.
This is according to a report submitted by the Principal Secretary (PS) of the State Department for Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga on Monday, November 6, 2023.
According to Hinga, the National Construction Authority (NCA) had made cuts from Ksh25 million to Ksh15 million
“The concern was raised out of a budget reduction on Regulation and Development of Construction Industry from the earlier allocation of Ksh25 Million to Ksh15 Million.
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“According to NCA this will reduce the number of structures inspected and audited from a projected number of 2,500 to 1500,” a report from the National Assembly Committee on Housing read in part.
Concerns Raised Over Completion of Ruto’s Housing Projects
At the same time, members of the committee raised concerns about the budget cut indicating that it could affect the completion of housing projects launched by Ruto across the country.
Notably, the PS for the State department for public works Joel Arumonyang, lamented that the budget cuts imposed on most of the areas will have adverse negative impact on delivery of key projects.
“The Supplementary 1 estimate will include the implementation of government Building projects, Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) projects, coastline infrastructure Development including pedestrian access and development of construction industry,” added Arumonyang.
However, Hinga indicated that the National Housing Corporation had in its possession a good number of pieces of land for the construction projects across the country.
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In addition, He noted that the corporation had the necessary financial backing to complete the said projects and address Kenya’s housing deficit.
Also, the committee raised concern on the efficiency for National Construction Authority (NCA) to carry out thorough inspection on building standards in the wake of collapsing buildings across the country.
Hinga Reveals Amount Collected from Housing Levy
On the other hand, the housing PS revealed to the committee that the government had already collected over Ksh16 billion through the Affordable Housing Levy.
“He further informed the committee that over 16 billion Kenyan shillings have been collected by Kenya Revenue Authority through the Affordable Housing Levy.
“This fund is pivotal in supporting the government’s agenda on affordable housing projects and ensuring successful execution,” added the report.
The Kenya Revenue Authority began Housing Levy deductions from salaried Kenyans’ pay slip in July 2023.
Bottom-Up Agenda
While unveiling his manifesto, Ruto stated that the bottom-up economic model will be geared towards bringing down the cost of living, eradicating hunger, creating jobs, expanding the tax base, improving the country’s foreign exchange balance as well as inclusive growth.
Further he indicated that the agenda would be achieved using six core pillars including Agriculture; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) economy; Housing and Settlement; Healthcare; Digital superhighway and creative economy; Environment and climate change.
