Nairobi, Aug. 27 -- The Affordable Housing Levy has become one of Kenya's most contested fiscal policies. While the government presents it as a pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, many employees see it as another mandatory deduction shrinking already stretched pay packets.

Housing is a basic right and central to people's lives. As John F. Kennedy observed in a 1946 speech on housing, "The home is the central unit of the community, the state, and the nation." That principle still applies today.

Having worked in housing finance across Africa for more than 15 years, I have seen governments and experts pursue the same goal: making decent housing affordable. The challenge is not whether affordable housing is necessary. It...