The President William Ruto government suffered a serious setback when the Court of Appeal agreed to stay the High Court verdict that deemed several portions of the Finance Act, 2023, notably the Housing Levy, unconstitutional.

A three-judge bench of Court of Appeal justices Lydia Achode, John Mativo, and Mwaniki Gachoka declined a request by Cabinet Secretary National Treasury and Planning Njuguna Ndungu, Attorney General Justin Muturi, and the Kenya Revenue Authority to suspend the High Court judgment pending the hearing of their appeals.

“…we direct that the appeals be heard expeditiously so that the issues raised in the appeals can be resolved with finality,” the judges ruled.

This implies that Kenyans will stop contributing 1.5% of their salaries to the housing levy until the appeal is heard.

While dismissing the state’s four pleas for a stay, the justices emphasized that the High Court ruled that the Housing Levy was imposed without a legal foundation.

“It also held that the levy was targeting a section of Kenyans. In our view, public interest lies in awaiting the determination of the appeal. This is because if the stay sought is granted at this stage, should the appellate court affirm the impugned decision, then some far-reaching decisions that will have been undertaken pursuant to the impugned laws may not be reversible,” the appellant judges stated.

“Public interest in our view tilts favour in not granting the stay or the suspension sought. Public interest tilts in favour awaiting the determination of the issues raised in the intended appeals. We find and hold that none of the 4 consolidated applications satisfies both limps. Accordingly, civil applications Nos. E577 of 2023, E581 of 2023, E585 of 2023 and E596 of 2023 are hereby dismissed.”

More to follow…