The Principal Secretary in the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga, has pushed back against recent claims that Kenyans have withdrawn Ksh2.56 billion from the Boma Yangu Affordable Housing Savings platform.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

While addressing the press on July 22 following rising concerns on the issue, PS Hinga argues that the figures being floated both in media reports and social media are false and do not tell the whole story of what is actually happening with the housing programme.

He reiterated that a huge chunk of what is being dubbed as 'withdrawals' is not at all money leaving the system.

According to him, over two-thirds of that amount was actually channelled towards deposits for new homeowners buying units outside the Park Road project.

📌 What You Need to Know

This represents roughly 31.4 per cent of the Ksh2.56 billion, money that he says Kenyans genuinely pulled out for personal use.

“Then we have Ksh803 million, which is 31.4 per cent, which is money that now has actually been withdrawn; even in your home you withdraw money from important savings accounts when you need to,” PS Hinga stated.

He noted that some savers withdraw for realistic reasons like paying fees, while others panic after hearing politicians threaten to scrap the housing levy altogether once they come into power, a threat that the opposition politicians in general have been making.

“As I said, you can withdraw school fees when they are due. And people also withdraw when they get spooked. When they hear politicians say that they will kill the housing project when we come in, people panic, and they withdraw the money because they don't want to lose their money,” PS Hinga stated.

The Daily Nation coverage of July 19 had reported that refunds from Boma Yangu had surged to Ksh2.56 billion.

That figure represented nearly half of the Ksh5.47 billion mobilised through the voluntary savings scheme so far.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke