Wednesday, July 3, 2024 - Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome has explained the rationale behind the government's proposal to impose a levy on freehold land within urban areas and cities.
Speaking during an interview,
Wahome explained that the withdrawn Lands Amendment Bill 2023 was aimed at
creating equity among Kenyans who own land in cities such as Nairobi.
She revealed that most freehold land in Nairobi was in leafy suburbs such as Karen, Muthaiga, and Lavington.
Wahome detailed that the freehold system was inherited from the colonial
administration and favoured white settlers.
Therefore, freehold landowners
in such suburbs only pay land rates to the County Government.
Conversely, land in Eastlands
and other middle-class estates is owned on a leasehold tenure with the owners
paying land rates to the county governments in addition to land rent which is
paid to the national government.
Therefore, the CS explained that
it was unfair that some landowners in Nairobi were paying more than their
counterparts in posh estates.
"In the cities, you enjoy
extra services that are funded by the taxpayer. It cannot be okay for some
people to pay for land within the urban areas and some people do not pay.
"For instance, in Buruburu
one will pay land rate to the county government and land rent to the national
government. We thought it was time to address the inequality," she
explained.
On the other hand, Wahome acknowledged
that there was a public uproar over the proposals, adding that there was a lot
of misinformation regarding the proposals.
For starters, the CS indicated
that the law was not aimed at changing freehold land to leasehold lands.
She added that the proposals
were only targeting land in urban areas and cities.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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