Teachers Call for Nonviolent Protest on Tuesday
Teachers Call for Nonviolent Protest on Tuesday. Tuesday will see a non-violent demonstration against the government’s proposed housing charge, according to a teachers’ union.
The hour-long procession from Pembe za ndovu to Treasury Square will begin at 9 or 10 a.m. by the Mombasa branch of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
In a notice dated May 19 and signed by the branch executive secretary Lynette Kamadi, it is stated that “the teachers of Mombasa intend to hold a peaceful demonstration on the date mentioned against the housing levy as proposed in the finance bill, 2023.”
Copies have also been given to the county commissioner, the county police chief, the department of education, and TSC, among other recipients. It is addressed to the regional commander.
According to Kamadi, who has vowed to uphold the Constitution, the right to assemble and protest is protected by it. She also mentioned that the protesters won’t be carrying weapons and will be peaceful.
She said, “Please give us the help we need to communicate our message to the appropriate leadership.”
President William Ruto proposed the Housing Fund, saying that all Kenyans on salaries would be obliged to make an obligatory monthly payment equal to 3% of their gross income.
On April 23, Ruto remarked, “If you make Sh10,000, three percent is Sh300 every month.”
The president announced that the employer will contribute equally to the fund under the affordable housing plan, but later underlined that this is not a tax.
Since then, those who had attacked the President for the fund’s methodology—including government workers and Azimio la Umoja leaders—have come out vehemently against it.
Politicians under the leadership of Raila Odinga said that some Kenyans already owned homes and did not need to be forced to pay into the Housing Fund.
They expected wage rises rather than further deductions, according to Moses Nthurima, the deputy secretary general of Kuppet, who recently contributed to the chorus.
They want a voluntarily imposed tax.
According to the new PSSS Act, teachers may utilize up to 40% of their pension contributions to construct residences. They don’t need a new tax for housing construction, he proclaimed.