Kenyans need to maximise potential, not State handouts

Over recent weeks, there has been talk of a new housing levy to be imposed on Kenyan workers.

Housing is part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda. Employees and employers will each contribute 1.5 per cent of a worker’s salary to fund the President’s plan of building 500,000 houses for Kenyans by 2022.

First of all, the levy is discriminatory as it targets some three million Kenyans who are in formal employment, leaving out others who are not in formal employment.

Employers are also crying foul since they will be contributing to a levy from which they will not be benefiting.

Moreover, the controversy is about what will happen to the 2.5 million employees who will have contributed to the housing fund but will not get the houses.

The government needs to stop the culture of handouts and instead ensure that there is a conducive environment for Kenyans to thrive regardless of one’s station of work.

The government should ensure that a farmer in Elgeyo-Marakwet County has water throughout the year by constructing dams and drilling boreholes, and that instead of planting only once a year, he can plant thrice.

It is also the government’s work to ensure that the farmer, on harvesting his produce, has access to good roads that will ensure his produce reaches the fresh produce trader in Nairobi while still fresh.

This will ensure that the farmer’s produce fetches a good price at the market and in turn the Mama Mboga will have fresh produce for distribution.

In the long run, the farmer will thrive and so will the Mama Mboga, therefore they will not need the government to build them houses as they will earn enough income not only to build decent houses for themselves but to also take care of their children and afford better healthcare.

This will be as a result of the government building the infrastructure required for their productivity to increase.

The government’s (our commonwealth) work is to use our taxes and or loans advanced in our names in providing infrastructure and policies that help stimulate the economy.

Just the construction of dams and a good road network as opposed to, say, a house for the farmer, will enable a rural farmer to not only increase his level of production, but also ensure he fetches good market prices for his produce.

When the business environment is good, private investors will flock into the economy, as businesses such as agrovets will sprout in the rural areas.

With time, more people will increase their productivity in whichever sector they are in due to favourable government policies.