The Government has scrapped construction fees to attract more investors in real estate development.
The decision signalling a huge win for real estate developers was made during a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi.
The Cabinet said the decision is aimed at bolstering the country’s construction sector.
In a statement, State House said multiple charges levied by various ministries, departments and agencies had made construction expensive.
The Cabinet said the action would encourage more investors to venture into the construction industry since it would eliminate inordinate delays in obtaining requisite approvals.
The statement further said that the Cabinet had eliminated duplication of roles with a view to ensuring that government ministries and departments performed their core mandate.
Overlapping services, it said, will now be performed by the ministry, department or agency best suited to offer the requisite service.
“Cabinet decided that all affected legislation and regulations would be amended to bring into effect the scrapped levies,” read the statement in part.
The Cabinet also approved the creation of a one-stop shop approach, such as that delivered within Huduma Centres, for licensing and registration of contractors by the National Construction Authority (NCA).
The sitting further approved two bills; Movable Property Security Rights Bill 2016 and National Coroners Service Bill that will be tabled before the National Assembly for debate.
Movable Property Security Rights Bill, 2016, will provide for the creation of an electronic registry to enhance confidence of the lending institutions and create an enabling environment to lend against movable assets as collateral.
IMMENSE POTENTIAL
“The greatest beneficiaries from these key reforms, which will now go to Parliament for debate and enactment, are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. It will allow lending to a group that has previously struggled to access credit, and the economy to benefit from the immense potential that MSMEs have in driving economic growth,” it further read.
The Cabinet instructed Attorney General Githu Muigai to table the National Coroners Service Bill before Parliament for discussion and subsequent enactment.
The bill will make inquiries into sudden and unexplained deaths independent of the medical profession, the State or parties with an interest in the outcome of an investigation into a death.
