No land rate waiver for land owners in Nairobi, Sakaja announces

There will be no land rates waiver for landowners in Nairobi this year.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that the city county government will be firm on enforcement to recover the money from defaulters, adding that they will follow the set regulations of the law.

“We are very firm on enforcement of rates this year. Some people have been waiting not to pay, waiting for a waiver. There is no waiver this year, there is no waiver. The deadline is March, and we are going to do enforcement and follow the provisions of the law,” Sakaja affirmed.

Sakaja called on the various government entities in Nairobi to ensure they pay their rates to the county as it was recently revealed by Senator Edwin Sifuna that various institutions of the National government owe Nairobi up to Ksh 100 billion in pending bills.

Last year in May, the Sakaja-led administration issued a 100 per cent waiver for payments made between May 20 and June 20.

“In the exercise of powers conferred by Section 5(2)(b) of the Nairobi City County Tax Waivers Administration Act, 2013, and with the concurrence of the Governor, the County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning shall grant 100 per cent waiver on penalties and interest on land rates for those who will pay such land rates in full from May 20 to June 20, 2024,” the Nairobi City County Executive Committee Member for Economic and Finance planning Charles Kerich announced  in a gazette notice.

The initiative was part of Sakaja’s strategy to enhance revenue collection for the county’s activities, even though they never met the target.

In the first quarter of the current financial year, land rates revenue was higher with the county collecting Sh196,074,592, while it dropped to Sh142, 363,884 in the second quarter.

According to the chief officer of revenue, Tirus Njoroge, the big drop in Land Rates is the result of a change in internal policies on issuing waivers.

Njoroge says the City administration is enforcing the accrued pending bills for land rates with a clampdown of properties being an option as they plan to auction the notorious landlords who have failed to pay for a long period.

“While waivers on land rates have been issued in previous financial years, the result is often reducing compliance within the legally stipulated period of January – March. We are now enforcing those penalties accrued in various ways, including an operation to clamp down on properties that have not paid rates and auction those that have been notorious and failed to pay rates over a long period,” Njoroge stated.