Ruto suffers as Kenyan housing tax blocked by court

A court in Kenya has refused to let the government introduce a new tax on housing. This decision is a setback for the government.

In November, the High Court said that the 1. 5% monthly charge was not fair to Kenyans who have regular jobs and told them to stop paying it.

On Friday, the court said that people don’t have to pay the tax until the case is finished.

The government wanted to start collecting the tax again for now.

It started taking 1. 5% of the total wages of both local and foreign workers last July. This money is being used to build cheap houses for people with low incomes.

The new tax upset the opposition and many Kenyans who already feel overwhelmed by the many taxes President William Ruto has introduced.

The government said that if they stopped the tax, many people working on the housing program would lose their jobs and it would break the contracts that had already been made.

Many people in Kenya feel better about the decision, even though the Court of Appeal has not made its final ruling.

The decision was made just one week after the appeals court approved a new healthcare insurance fee. This fee will require people to give 2. 75% of their monthly salary to a social healthcare program.

The housing levy case on Friday has caused a disagreement between the judges and the president. President Ruto said that some judges are working with the opposition to stop development projects and are corrupt.