City Hall clamps Pastor Ng’ang’a’s church over unpaid Sh10 million land rates
Cleric recently said he was ready to pay but noted that former Governor Mike Sonko had granted them waivers
The Nairobi City County Government has clamped Pastor Ng’ang’a’s Neno Evangelism Centre over unpaid land rates amounting to Sh10 million.
The enforcement team, which was led by the Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria, said they were not at the centre to disrupt church operations but to collect unpaid dues.
In a video shared on his social media handles, Mosiria claimed he led the operation because of the viral video in which Ng’ang’a claimed that the Ksh 10 million dues were like ‘thrash’ to him.
“We have come because in a video by the pastor, he said Sh10 million is like garbage to him. We have come for the garbage so that we can be able to fuel county vehicles and collect all the garbage in the City,” he satirically stated.
The video shared by Mosiria has, however, been met with mixed reactions as the social media users said the operation is a PR stunt. This is after one of the officers was seen asking an official of the church if they had a business permit for a hotel based at the centre while Mosiria is also seen questioning where the waste from the facility is being disposed of.
“For me, this is just PR for how long this church hotel has been operating in Nairobi? All of a sudden, the county officials have woken up. No wonder the commander is using the word takataka,” George Ngigi commented on the video by Mosiria.
Some angered netizens said the operations are being carried out unprofessionally.
“It is unprofessional for you to be calling the shots and embarrassing citizens in the name of doing your work. Leave the camera behind and go to work for your good,” a social media user stated.
Pastor Ng’ang’a, in a recent video, has said he was willing to pay the arrears.
He accused the city administration of having issues with him as he cited an ongoing land case.
He claimed that former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko had granted waivers on land rates to him and other churches within the Central Business District. He also noted that the Freemasons’ hall was also clamped over Ksh 19 million unpaid rates.
“Ten million is garbage to me. I can give out my cars. You already took me to court over land issues, but I haven’t refused to pay rates. If ‘devil worshippers’ have refused to pay, I have not. I want the Nairobi City County administration to hear me out clearly,” Ng’ang’a stated.
He further argued that the current county administration had not officially revoked the waiver issued during Sonko’s tenure.
