Nairobi County owed Sh158b in rate arrears

NAIROBI: The national government owes Nairobi City County Sh3.4 billion in land rate arrears, Governor Kidero has said.

Parastatals in particular owe the county Sh1.2 billion after failing to pay their yearly land rates as required by law.

Kidero said residential and commercial buildings owners owe the county Sh146 billion, while land owning companies owe Sh7.2 billion bringing the total amount to Sh158 billion.

He said the amount increased due to interests and penalties accumulated over three-year period. Kidero Tuesday announced 30 days waiver on accumulated penalties and interest on land rates for the institutions and city residents.

“Even though it is said that ignorance is no defence, we have decided to listen to pleas and offer 30 days grace period where we will waiver 90 per cent on all the interests and penalties,” Kidero said.

He asked residents to take advantage of the e-payment system, where they don’t have to come to City Hall to make payments but can do so electronically through mobile phones.

At the same time, Kidero announced that the county assembly had passed the Regulation of Buildings Bill, which aims at vetting all buildings that were previously not approved by the county’s planning department.

The current regulation forbids buildings on land that have no title deeds not be approved. However, the bill seeks to outmanoeuvre this gridlock and allow those that can provide share certificate for the land, satisfy safety requirements and have amenities like water and sanitation. Those that will not meet the requirements will be pulled down.

PULL DOWN

More than 50,000 buildings in Nairobi have not been approved, according to Nairobi County data. Most of them are in Embakasi, Dagoretti, Langata and Kasarani.

Kidero asserted that owners of such buildings will be given six months to ensure that their structures conform to the requirements of the vetting board. He said those that will not have been regularised will be pulled down.

Minority Leader Abdi Guyo threw the ball in Kidero’s court when he said, “As an assembly we have passed the regulation bill. Now it is up to the executive to enforce it.”

In the last financial year, the county government collected Sh2.5 billion in land rates and hopes to raise Sh4.5 billion this year.